The Valparaiso University men’s golf team finished up The Invitational at Savannah Harbor on Sunday morning with its best team round of the tournament, highlighted by an under-par round from freshman Drew Alexander (McCordsville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern).

How It Happened

• Alexander recorded Valpo’s best individual round of the tournament, posting a one-under 71 to finish the 54-hole event at 228. It was the freshman’s third round of par or better in five tournaments this season. Alexander recorded three birdies and carded just two bogeys on the day.
• Fellow rookie Brett Seward (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Christian) closed out the tournament with his second consecutive round of 73. The freshman was Valpo’s top individual finisher, placing 25th with a 54-hole total of 221.
• Senior Michael Doherty (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) matched Alexander with a score of 228 for the 54 holes, finishing up on Sunday with a final-round 77.
• Sophomore Jeremy Wu (Medford, Ore./St. Mary’s) and senior Zach Cutler (O’Fallon, Mo./Timberland) each finished up play in Savannah with their best rounds of the tournament, posting rounds of 79 and 84, respectively.
• As a team, Valpo recorded a final-round score of 300, improving by seven strokes from its better of two rounds on Saturday. The Crusaders finished the tournament in 16th position.

Thoughts From Head Coach David Gring

“We had a number of positives we will focus on from today's round. We had improvement with our team scoring each round and our two freshman shot even par between the two of them. We only had one double bogey on the scorecards and the putting was much improved, over the first two rounds.”

“I could tell the guys were super anxious and excited to get the season rolling and expectations were pretty high. We discussed being patient with this first tournament and trying to get into a good rhythm on the course during the rounds. This was a struggle yesterday and the team handled this much better today.”

“Drew had a very solid round with three birdies and two bogeys, hitting a lot of greens in regulation and putting much better today. Brett's play for this tournament was very consistent and I thought his ball striking was exceptional for this time of the year.’

“The great thing about competition is that we know exactly what we need to work on for our next event in two weeks. We will certainly focus on the areas of importance and look forward to our next tournament.”

Next Up

The Crusaders will take a couple weeks away from competition before returning to action over spring break at the Bash at the Beach Collegiate Invite. Play from The Surf Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C. begins on Monday, March 5.