The Valparaiso men’s golf team wrapped up its second-to-last tournament of the fall season Tuesday as they completed the final round of play at the Dayton Fall Invitational at the NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio. The team fell off of their pace from Monday just slightly as they finished the 36-hole tournament with a final round of 307, giving them a total score of 611, finishing 24 shots back of the winners Xavier.

Coach David Gring clearly sees this, as well as other tournaments as a learning lesson. “With every tournament, I feel that we are gaining valuable experience and learning more about our team's capabilities. While we did not have the results that we were looking for in playing this tournament, we had some strong individual performances and solid scores on a terrific golf course.”

Joe Harris (Washington, Iowa/Washington) was able to move ahead two spots to secure a top five finish with a final round of 72, and a two-round total of 145.  Peter Webb (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) moved up 19 spots in the individual rankings with a final round of 73, good for a total of 149 and a 16th place finish.

Coach Gring praised Harris and Webb for stepping up during the Dayton Invite.  “During our fall season, we have had a different player lead our team in scoring almost every tournament, and Joe Harris stepped up to the plate for us in this event.”  Gring continued by saying, “This was Joe's best tournament of the fall, when you consider the type of course we were playing, the conditions, and the diverse field.  Peter Webb played very well for us also, and we will take these positives in finishing the fall season and during the off-season.”

Rounding out another team effort for the Crusaders were Eric Winters (Elgin, Ill/Saint Edward) who finished with a 157, Jared Magoline (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac [Marquette]) with a 161, and Nick Seitz (Xenia, Ohio/Carroll) with a 164.

Gring talked about how the team has been turning in good results every time they hit the course, even if it isn’t in a winning performance.  “We have been able to put together some excellent team scores this fall, but we struggled yesterday and today getting four decent scores on the board,” said Gring. “The guys played hard, and we simply didn't have any good team scores to show for it.”

Michael Doherty (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) and Matt Ward (Plainfield, Ill./South) once again played as individuals, just as they did during day one. Doherty finished with a 76 and a two round total of 154, which was good enough to put him in fourth place out of competitors who played as individuals, and tied for 38th overall. Ward finished with a 36-hole total of 164.

The Brown and Gold now head home before heading out to Perrysburg, Ohio for their final tournament of the 2014 fall campaign. They will be taking place in the Rocket Individual Invitational on October 27 and 28. Full results of both days of action can be found at valpoathletics.com.