Valparaiso University men’s golf fifth-year senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) closed out another top-10 finish, this time pacing the team at the Hoosier Collegiate, which was hosted by Indiana University at the par-71, 7355-yard Pfau Course in a windy and chilly Bloomington, Ind. this weekend. The teams finished the final few holes in the second round, which was suspended by darkness on Saturday, and then golfed the third and final round of the event on Sunday.

How It Happened

• VanArragon paced the squad with a 75 (+4) in Sunday’s final round after finishing Round 2 with a 71 (E). His 54-hole score of 219 (+6) helped him tie for seventh in an 87-player field.
• Valpo’s second-best score came from Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield), who finished Round 2 with a 74 before closing the tournament with a 77 in the third and final round. His 54-hole total of 222 helped him finish at t-13.
• Freshman Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) had the team’s third-best score in the final round with a 78, while Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood) was third on the team in Round 2 at 77. They both totaled 234 for the tourney to finish at t-58.
• Valpo finished with a 54-hole team score of 909 after carding a 311 in the third round. The team placed eighth of 15 in a field that included several highly-ranked power-five opponents. The host Hoosier won the event at 867, while Notre Dame and Michigan State tied for second. Southern Illinois’ Edouardo Certo took medalist honors at 212.

Inside the Rounds

• VanArragon recorded his 35^th career top-10 finish.
• VanArragon eagled the par-5 first hole in Round 3.
• Delisanti had nine birdies for the tournament, a team high and the fourth most among all golfers.
• Valpo accrued 23 birdies as a team.
• The Beacons had a 4.33 average on par-4 holes and a 4.91 average on par 5s, but tied for the worst par-3 scoring average in the field.
• This event featured five power-conference teams ranked in the top 80 nationally – Notre Dame (27), Northwestern (38), Indiana (48), Michigan (76) and Michigan State (79).

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“Each season for a team has its highs and lows. We take the good with the bad. Today was a character-building day for us. While the entire field was challenged with the same weather we had to endure, we struggled just to hit fairways and greens in regulation. We played 22 holes today, finishing the second round and playing the full third round. The “feels-like” temps for the first couple of hours were right around 39 degrees, including 15-20 mph sustained winds. We knew it was going to be cold conditions. When you combine those conditions with the toughest course we will play all year, we simply didn’t execute what we needed to today.”

“It was an absolute grind out there, hitting tee shots, irons into greens and even trying to putt the ball close to the hole. The guys maintained their composure and really impressed me with not giving up and continuing to grind all day. One of the great things about competition is that it tells us exactly what we need to work on. A single tournament isn’t going to define us. Our Assistant Coach Ron is good at reminding all of us that golf is testing us how quickly we can get over tough conditions and a tough golf course and back to normal golf. We learned a lot today, and it’s experience that we can take into this coming week and as we work toward our conference championship.”

Up Next

The Beacons have one more tournament on the docket prior to the league championship as they will compete in the Rutherford Intercollegiate in State College, Pa. starting on April 13. A link to live scoring will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.