The Valparaiso University men’s golf program will tee off its annual home event on Monday morning at Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Ind.
The tournament will begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Monday at the par-72, 6997-yard course. Round 2 will take place following Round 1 on Monday, and Round 3 will feature tee times off the first and 10th holes beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Live scoring for the event will be available via GolfStat.
The tournament will feature a 12-team field comprised of Xavier, Green Bay, Evansville, Western Illinois, Wright State, Bradley, Chicago State, DePaul, North Dakota, Eastern Illinois, Detroit Mercy, and the host Beacons.
“We are thrilled to host 11 Division-1 teams in our home tournament this coming week,” Valpo head coach David Gring said. “Those 11 teams will represent six conferences including the Missouri Valley Conference, Horizon League, Summit League, Big East, Ohio Valley Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference. We will have all of our Valpo players participating in our home tournament and the field will have 75 players, including 15 individuals. We weren’t able to host our home tournament last fall, but the guys are ready to compete on our home course this weekend.”
Valpo opened the season by placing in the top five in a competitive, 15-team field at the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational at Pfau Course in Bloomington, Ind. over Labor Day Weekend. The Beacons are coming off a successful 2020-21 campaign in which the team posted the second-best single-season scoring average in program history at 296.5.
“Our team is practicing and playing with a lot of confidence to start our fall season,” Gring said. “I was very pleased with our performance at Indiana University’s tournament two weeks ago, especially with the competitive field and the challenging golf course. Competition always shows us exactly what we need to practice, and that has been our focus over the past two weeks. Ball-striking accuracy off the tee along with smart play into and around the greens needed to be tightened down after our first tournament and the guys have practiced well in preparing for this weekend.”
Freshman Anthony Delisanti (Saborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) led the team with a 54-hole score of 219 (+6) in his first collegiate event at the Hoosier Collegiate Invite. Newcomer Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) also started his Valpo tenure in style, finishing in the top 20 on the individual leaderboard.
The team boasts three individuals who rank in the top four in program history in career scoring average. Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine), Garrett Willis (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead) and Charlie Toman (Chardon, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) are all among the program’s all-time career leaders. Sophomore Mason Bonn (Sherwood, Ore. / Sherwood) is also part of the program’s quartet of returning players, while freshmen Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) and Grant Norman (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Blackhawk) join Delisanti and Kostouros to form a group of four newcomers who will experience their first home tournament this weekend.
“We are very blessed to have Sand Creek Country Club as our home course,” Gring said. “The golf course is always in amazing shape in the early fall season and the greens roll fast and true. With some dry weather over the past week, the golf course is going to be firm and fast. We are going to have to make good decisions with club selection off the tee and be smart with our approach shots into the greens. The tournament will be a terrific challenge for us and we are ready to get after it.”
