The Valparaiso University men’s golf program and head coach David Gring have announced the program’s scheduling plans for the 2021-2022 season.

The docket will feature six tournaments during the fall and seven more during the spring. The 13-event slate will culminate with the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on April 25-26 at the Country Club of Paducah in Paducah, Ky. with Missouri State serving as the host institution.

“Our team could not be more excited to commence the new school year along with competition on the golf course,” Gring said. “The guys are looking forward to getting back on campus, practicing together as a team and enjoying a full season of competition. Despite a shortened season last year, the team played exceptionally well and we finished the last half of the spring season with some of our best scoring of the year. The team is ready to carry that momentum over to this year and continue winning tournaments, both as a team and individually. Our goals are specific and high for this year and the team is ready to get after it.”

The Beacons will host a pair of tournaments including the Valpo Fall Invitational, which is slated for Sept. 20-21 at Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton. Valpo will also host a warm-weather spring event on Feb. 28 and March 1 – the Dove Mountain Intercollegiate at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz.

“For the first time in our team’s history, we will host a home tournament in both our fall and spring seasons,” Gring said. “We are blessed with an exceptional home course, and Sand Creek will be the site of our Valpo Fall Invitational in September. In the early spring, we will play at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain, just north of Tucson, Ariz. Dove Mountain is one of the top-ranked golf courses in Arizona and the former site of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. We have a talented group of young men on this team and they are ready to showcase their talents and abilities.”

The 2021-2022 season will tee off on Sept. 5-6 with the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational, hosted by Indiana University at Pfau Course in Bloomington. Valpo’s fall slate will also feature a pair of events hosted by MVC foe Drake – the Zach Johnson Invitational (Sept. 27-28 in West Des Moines, Iowa) and the Spirit Hollow Fall Shootout (Oct. 6 in Burlington, Iowa). The fall continues on Oct. 11-12 with the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate in Jonesboro, Ark. and concludes on Oct. 18-19 with the TVA Credit Union Invitational hosted by Turtle Point Golf & Yacht Club.

The first event of the spring semester will occur on Feb. 13-15 at Hammond Creek Golf Club in Palm City, Fla. as UNC Greensboro hosts the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate. The spring slate also features the GCU Invitational (March 14-15), Twin Oaks Intercollegiate (March 21-22) and Butler Spring Invitational (March 28-29). The program’s annual trip to Springboro, Ohio for the Wright State Invitational (April 17-18) will mark the final tune-up prior to the MVC Championship.

“This will be one of the strongest schedules that we have had since I’ve been head coach,” Gring said. “We will play in 13 events, with six tournaments in the fall and seven in the spring. Those 13 tournaments will take us to nine different states and four of the tournaments will be played on golf courses that we’ve never seen before. I’m most excited about the competitive fields and the quality of the golf courses that we will be playing. Our team will be tested on these challenging golf courses, but we will relish the competition and look forward to more success this year.”

Valpo finished the 2020-21 season with a 296.5 team scoring average, the second-best in the program’s modern area. This year, the team will feature a blend of newcomers and returning players with the roster comprised of four members of each group.

“We had three seniors who graduated last year,” Gring said. “We will miss their leadership and experience, but all four of our returning players have enjoyed a lot of tournament experience over the past 1-3 years. We will be adding three freshmen to our roster that come from tremendous high school golf programs. Yianni Kostouros brings three years of Division-I experience to our team and he will be an impact player on our roster. All eight of these guys practiced well and played in a lot of tournaments this summer, and they will be well prepared for the new season.”