Valparaiso University men’s golf sophomore Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) continued his recent run of success by garnering medalist honors for the second consecutive week as the Drake-hosted Zach Johnson Invitational concluded on Tuesday at the par-71, 6898-yard Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. This time, he shattered program records for both 54-hole tournament and 18-hole round en route to finishing in the top spot in an 81-player field.

How It Happened

• Delisanti dominated the third round of the event, needing just 64 strokes to complete the 18-hole round at seven strokes under par. The stellar final round helped the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion pull away from the field to win medalist honors at 202 (-11) for the event. He finished five strokes clear of the closest competition as Iowa State’s Luke Gutschewski, Iowa State’s Paul Beauvy and North Dakota State’s Ian Simonich all tied for runner-up honors at 207 (-6).
• Senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) also solidified a top-10 finish on Tuesday. He posted a 68 (-2) to finish the tournament at 209 (-4), good for seventh on the player leaderboard.
• The next-best Beacon was junior Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood), who posted a 72 (E) to finish the event at 221 (+8), placing 24^th.
• Collectively, Valpo finished third in a 14-team field. The Beacons carded a 280 (-4) in Tuesday’s round to finish the tournament 16 strokes ahead of the fourth-place team with an 856 (+4). Head coach Dave Gring’s group was behind only team champion North Dakota State (840, -12) and team runner-up Iowa State (842, -10).

Inside the Round

• Delisanti won medalist honors for a second straight tournament after finishing atop the player leaderboard at last week’s Valpo Fall Invitational. This represented his fourth career tournament win as he previously held medalist distinctions last spring at the MVC Championship and Butler Spring Invitational.
• Delisanti’s 18-hole score of 64 on Tuesday shattered the previous 18-hole modern program record of 65 that was shared by four players. The record had stood since the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge, when both Jared Magoline and Nick Seitz posted 65s and was later matched by Peter Webb (April 2017) and Drew Alexander (September 2017).
• In relation to par, Delisanti’s single-round score of seven strokes under tied the modern program record that was set by Magoline and Seitz at the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge.
• In terms of 54-hole tournament score, Delisanti’s 202 is the best in modern program history by four strokes. The previous record of 206 was set by Nick Seitz in September 2014 and matched by Peter Webb in April 2017.
• Delisanti’s 54-hole score in relation to par of -11 was also a 54-hole program record, edging Seitz’s mark from the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge by a single stroke.
• VanArragon’s 54-hole score of 209 also ranked in the top 10 in modern program history, tied for seventh.
• VanArragon enjoyed his 22^nd career top-10 finish.
• Valpo’s team score of 856 ranked fourth in modern program history, and one of the only three better tournament performances was last week’s Valpo Fall Invitational. In fact, this marked the team’s best 54-hole tournament performance away from its home course since the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge.
• In relation to par, the 54-hole tournament score of +4 is fifth in program history and second to only the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge in tournaments that did not take place on Valpo’s home course.
• The 18-hole team score of 280 on Tuesday ranks fifth in modern program history in 18-hole round overall score. The 18-hole showing of -4 ranks tied for 10^th in modern program history.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“I’m very pleased with our performance this week. The guys played hard and with a lot of determination all three rounds. Coming off our home tournament victory last week and some really good rounds, I didn’t know if expectations would be too high and the team would not play as well. We discussed that and the guys stepped up to the opportunity. North Dakota State is one of the best teams in the Summit League and the same goes for Iowa State in the Big 12. It was good to play with both teams during the final round and have our guys playing head-to-head with them.”

“We didn’t hit as many fairways as we needed this tournament. The green complexes are very solid and trying to get the ball close from the rough was a challenge. Also, we’re still leaving too many five- to 10-foot putts out there on the course, and we’re going to have to improve that range. On the other hand, I thought the guys managed the course well and made a lot of good decisions. We had some poor execution on some holes that led to big scores, so we’re going to need to minimize those. They really affect our overall scores quickly.”

“Anthony is off to a great start to the season. He and the entire team continue to prepare well for our tournaments, not only in actual practice time, but in course review. Anthony hit 50 out of 54 greens in regulation, which is a testament to his shot preparation and execution. He had a few three putts during the tournament, but his putting speed and reading the greens was exemplary. He went about his pre-shot routine in a very disciplined mode for all three rounds and he just stayed focused on the next shot at hand. He pushes our team in practices and the team pushes him, so his medalist victory will be celebrated by all of us.”

Up Next

The team will be back in action for the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate hosted by Arkansas State starting on Monday, Oct. 10 at RidgePointe CC in Jonesboro, Ark.