The Valparaiso University men’s golf team opened up the Bash at the Beach on Monday at The Surf Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Crusaders posted the exact same team score in both rounds (300) and were led by Brett Seward (Aurora, Ill. / Aurora Christian), who is tied for 17^th at 146.

How It Happened

• Seward’s best round was the second, when he cut four strokes off his Round 1 score and carded an even par.
• Mitchell Wittmann (Kaukauna, Wis. / Kaukauna) stands at t-30 after one day of action with a score of 150 out of the No. 5 slot in Valpo’s lineup
• Drew Alexander (McCordsville, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) and Michael Doherty (Lisle, Ill. / Naperville North) both check in at 155 (t-44), while Matthew McCarthy (O’Fallon, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) is right behind at 156.

Inside the Rounds

• The Crusaders had their best showing on Par 5 holes, averaging 4.80 (-6).
• Alexander led the Crusaders with five birdies, while Seward notched four of his own. Alexander also turned in an eagle, one of 11 players in the tournament field to do so.
• Wittmann and Seward were consistent throughout the day, racking up 24 pars apiece.
• Valpo enters the final day in seventh of nine in the team standings at +32. The Crusaders are eight strokes in back of sixth-place Delaware and 42 strokes ahead of eighth-place Walsh. Newberry College leads the team scoring at -1 and owns a four-stroke edge on second-place Charleston Southern.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“As a team, we talked about the importance of having a strong start to our rounds. It really helps to get a good rhythm and tempo going for the day. Overall, we had a solid start to both of our rounds despite starting on a more challenging part of the golf course. Tomorrow we are going to start on the back nine. We will need to have a strong start again, especially with that being the more difficult nine on the course.”

“The greens were the most fast that we have played to start this year, but I thought the guys did a great job controlling their speed on the greens and hitting the spots on their reads. We still left a lot of opportunities out there to make birdies and we have to do better making more of those critical putts, especially when we are inside eight to 10 feet. I anticipate that we will have more birdies tomorrow after two rounds of getting used to the speed of the greens.”

“Mitchell and Brett both played steady for us. When you avoid the double bogeys, it makes a difference in the total score. The two of them putted well and both short games were sharp around the greens.”

Up Next

The Crusaders will close out the Bash at the Beach with the third round on Tuesday. Live scoring will once again be available via GolfStat.