The Valparaiso University men’s golf team began the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite on Monday, taking part in a competitive 17-team, 100-player tournament hosted by Colorado at the par-72, 7787-yard Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo.

A talented field of teams includes three programs that advanced past NCAA Regionals to the NCAA Championships last year (San Francisco, Colorado and Colorado State), two other NCAA Regional teams from last season (Northern Colorado and GCU) and four teams that played in the National Golf Invitational (Washington State, Wyoming, Utah Valley and Valpo) for a total of nine postseason teams from a year ago.

How It Happened

• Valpo was led on the first day of action by Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine), who compiled a two-round score of 142 highlighted by a 69 (-3) in Round 1. He leads the Beacons and ranks tied for 17^th overall.
• Junior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) returned to the course after missing the most recent tournament and posted a 146 for the day. He went even par in the opening round.
• Both Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) and Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) carded a 73 in the morning 18. Sander finished the day at 150 following a 77 in Round 2, while Booth needed 80 strokes to get through the final 18 holes of the day.
• As a team, Valpo posted a 287 in Round 1 and a 302 in Round 2 to finish the day at 589 (+13), 16^th of 17.

Inside the Rounds

• Valpo posted a pair of eagles on Monday. Sander had an eagle early in the day as he needed just two strokes on the par-4 17^th hole in Round 1. VanArragon’s scorecard featured two circles on the par-5 12^th hole of Round 2.
• Sander was among the tournament leaders in par-4 scoring at 3.85.
• VanArragon was toward the top of the player leaderboard in par-5 scoring at 4.50.
• Delisanti drained a team-high seven birdies.  

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“It was a roller coaster day for us. We had another terrific start to the tournament with a couple birdies and an eagle. Our birdie production was steady across the team throughout the front nine. We sat in a good position with three holes to play in the first round. We gave five shots back to par over those last three holes, and that left us in the middle of the pack after the first round.”

“In the second round, we had another decent start and we finished the round much better than the first. We gave a lot of shots back to par in the middle of the round, playing holes 5–8 at 12 over. We also played holes 10–12 at five over. Our birdie production was almost half of what it was in the first round, so we struggled getting the ball close to the hole and making putts for birdie or par.”

“We have a new day tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to finishing the tournament strong. These guys have been resilient in the past, and I’m confident we can bounce back tomorrow with a solid final round.”

Up Next

The third and final round of the tournament will be held on Tuesday.