The Valparaiso University men’s golf team put together a solid opening round on Sunday at the MVC Championship, hosted at the par-71, 6760-yard Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Ill. The Beacons finished the day in second of 10 on the team leaderboard with sophomore Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) sitting in second place on the player leaderboard after putting together one of the best rounds in MVC Championship history. The quality scores came despite playing through cold temperatures as the “real feel” was in the upper 30s throughout Sunday’s action.

How It Happened

• Delisanti went five strokes under in the opening round, carding a 66 (-5) to finish the day in second place in the 50-player field. He is battling with Illinois State’s Felix van Dijk for medalist honors as van Dijk owns the top spot at six under.
• Senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) is also part of the top five as he sits at t-4 after carding a 69 (-2) in Round 1.
• The third best Beacon on the opening day of action was Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]), who turned in a 71(E). The team’s fourth countable score was Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), who stroked a 73 (+2).
• Valpo finished the day with a 279 (-5), three strokes behind Illinois State for the top spot on the team leaderboard. Belmont is third at 284 followed by Southern Illinois and UNI, who are tied for fourth at 287.

Inside the Round

• Valpo leads the field in par-3 scoring, going even par at 3.00 on those holes. The Beacons are second among participating teams in par-4 scoring with a 4.11 average.
• The Beacons knocked in 15 birdies, tied for the second most in the field. Delisanti led the way with five, while VanArragon and Booth drained four apiece.
• Delisanti ranks second in the tournament in par-4 scoring at 3.82, while VanArragon and Delisanti are tied for second on par 3s at 2.75.
• Valpo’s team score of 279 is tied for the fifth best 18-hole team score in modern program history (since the program’s 2009 relaunch). In relation to par, the team mark of five under is tied for eighth in the program record book.  
• The Valpo team score of 278 tied Wichita State’s 2008 performance, which was the best MVC Championship single-round team score since 1998 prior to Sunday. However, Illinois State shattered the Shocker record.
• Delisanti’s 66 is tied for the ninth best round in program history. In relation to par, the minus five is also tied for ninth.
• Delisanti is one of just four players in the history of the MVC Championship (since 1956) to stroke a 66 or better in a single round. His performance on Sunday is now tied with Illinois State’s David Rauer (2019) for third in MVC Championship history after van Dijk equaled the MVC Championship record that had stood for over five decades since Wichita State’s Gary Navarro carded a 65 back in 1972.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“We had some tough conditions for the first round today. The ‘feels like’ temp was at 31 degrees when we started the day, and it barely got up over 40 degrees by the end of the round. Winds were out of the northwest at over 10 miles per hour for most of the day, so the guys had to work through the adversity of the playing conditions. I’m really proud of their efforts in dealing with the weather and maintaining a good level of poise all day.”

“We only had five birdies on the front nine. The main reason for that was simply dealing with the weather conditions and trying to keep the hands warm. The guys played steady, hitting a good amount of greens in regulation and giving themselves some birdie opportunities. We were able to play the front nine at even par and we were only one shot off the lead, making the turn to the back nine.”

“The team played the back nine very solid, with 15 total birdies and seven of those in the last four holes. We finished the round really well and the guys played very focused down the final stretch. We played the Par 3s at even par on the day, and we knew that’s an area that we have to play well in this tournament. Our Par-5 scoring needs to improve over the next couple of days for some more critical scoring opportunities.”

“While we had a good team effort today, Anthony played incredibly steady for us. His scorecard was super clean with the five birdies, 13 pars and no bogeys. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and he’s making a lot of good decisions on the golf course. The entire team is looking forward to tomorrow’s second round.”

Up Next

The second round of the 54-hole tournament will take place on Monday. A link to live scoring via GolfStat will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.