Sophomore Jeremy Wu (Medford, Ore. / St. Mary’s) and freshman Brett Seward (Aurora, Ill. / Aurora Christian) paced the Valparaiso University men’s golf team on Day 1 of competition at the Titans Motown Collegiate on Monday. The Crusaders are in fourth of six teams in a tightly-contested field at the event, which is being hosted by Detroit Mercy at Prestwick Village Golf Course in Highland, Mich.

How It Happened

• Wu and Seward are tied for fourth overall in a 39-player field. Both stand at 148 through 36 holes.
• Seward posted a 74 in each round, a score that led the team in Round 1. Wu had the best Round 2 score of any Crusader, carding a 72 after turning in a 76 in Round 1.
• Freshman Drew Alexander (McCordsville, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) is third on the team and tied for 15^th overall through 36 holes. He stroked a 77 in Round 1 before bettering his score with a 74 in Round 2.
• All five players in the lineup carded a 77 or better in Round 1.
• Junior Mitchell Wittmann (Kaukauna, Wis. / Kaukauna) is participating as an individual and turned in a 72 in Round 2 to improve his Day 1 score to 151, which places him in a tie for 15^th overall.

Inside the Rounds

• Valpo turned in a team score of 303 in the opening round before posting a 301 in Round 2. The Crusaders are six strokes in back of third-place Detroit Mercy, seven strokes behind second-place Robert Morris and nine strokes off the pace of event-leading Youngstown State.
• Valpo owns 23 birdies, the most among teams in the tournament. Wittmann leads the team and is tied with three others for the tournament lead with seven birdies.
• The Crusaders are second in the tournament field in Par 5 scoring with a 4.85 average. Seward and Wu are tied for second among individuals in Par 5 scoring, both at 4.62.
• Wu’s 72 is the best 18-hole score of his career to date, shattering his previous low of 74 set at last year’s Wright State Invitational.
• Wittmann’s 72 was his season watermark, topping his previous best round of the fall by five strokes.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“I was encouraged today by more balanced scoring among the guys on the team in both rounds.  It was good to see a number of low to mid 70s on the scoreboard. The guys definitely left a number of shots out on the course, but I feel that we continue to move forward with a more consistent approach in our decisions on the course and scoring results.”

“Our birdie production was better in the second round and we led the tournament field in total birdies for the first two rounds. Mitch, Jeremy and Brett had a good day with their subpar holes and those guys made a lot of good club choices and areas of the green to hit. We need to have more putts drop tomorrow and our birdie production could be fantastic - the opportunities are out there. I liked our aggressiveness on the Par 5s and we really took advantage of the Par 5s during the second round.”

“Jeremy and Brett both had a lot of pars and they avoided the big hole numbers pretty well. Both of the guys hit a lot of greens in regulation and they gave themselves a lot of opportunities to make birdie. I felt their patience and demeanor were very good, especially for a full day of 36 holes.”

Up Next

The Crusaders close out the fall season with Round 3 of the Detroit Titan Motown Classic on Tuesday at Prestwick Village Golf Course in Highland, Mich. A link to live scoring is available on ValpoAthletics.com.