The Valparaiso University men’s golf team opened up its first event of the spring semester at a location that brings back fond memories, The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga. The defending Invitation at Savannah Harbor champions were led by Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood) in the opening round of this year’s event on Saturday.

How It Happened

• Bond carded a 71 (-1) over the first 18 holes, nearly cracking the Top 10 on the leaderboard at t-11 through one round.
• Garrett Willis (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead) and Brett Seward (Aurora, Ill. / Aurora Christian) each stroked a 73 (+1) in Round 1, checking in at t-24 through 18 holes.
• Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) and Charlie Toman (Chardon, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) rounded out the Valpo lineup, posting scores of 75 and 76, respectively. Freshman Alex Heck (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) golfed as an individual and carded a 77.
• Valpo golfed the first 13 holes of Round 2 before play was halted due to darkness. The final five holes of the second round will be completed on Sunday morning prior to the third and final round of the event.

Inside the Round

• Valpo performed well on Par 3 holes on the opening day of the spring, averaging a 3.07 to rank third among participating teams. The squad enjoyed similar success on Par 5 holes, posting a 4.95 to finish the day third in the field.
• Bonn, Seward and Willis shared the team lead in birdies with five apiece, while VanArragon had the team’s lone eagle of the day and one of five eagles in the tournament on Saturday. The Valpo sophomore birdied the Par-5 11^th hole in the opening round.
• Bonn matched his personal best from the abridged fall season by carding a 71 in Round 1. He boasted that same score in the third round of the Lewis Flyer Intercollegiate on Sept. 29.
• A Round 1 team score of 292 put Valpo eighth of 16, just two strokes out of a tie for fourth in a tightly-packed field. By the time play was halted midway through the second round, the Brown & Gold had climbed into seventh in the standings, just one stroke behind a tie for fifth.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“I was very pleased with our ball-striking today. I felt the guys managed the course extremely well and hit a lot of irons close to the pins. Coming off the winter months, you always wonder how the indoor practice is going to translate to the outdoor play. The team did very well hitting fairways off the tee and hitting greens in regulation despite a saturated golf course.”

“We had a lot of looks at birdie and unfortunately, we didn’t putt well at all. Our putting speeds were average at best and there were a lot of birdies that we missed from 5-10 feet. On our last hole of the day, we had two really good looks at birdie from five feet and we didn’t make either putt. The positive to take away is that we know we have a lot left in the tank and we have the ability to make a lot of birdies tomorrow. 

“While we still have a handful of holes to complete in our second round, we have a great opportunity to narrow the gap and finish the tournament strong in our final round. The format of this tournament is pretty unique in that all five of our guys are playing together as a 5-some, so they can really encourage each other and get some excellent momentum going. Alex was playing right behind our group, so I could keep a close eye on all six of our players.”

Up Next

Valpo will complete the second round and play the third round as The Invitation at Savannah Harbor concludes on Sunday in Savannah, Ga. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.