Competing in its final tournament prior to the 2014 Horizon League Championship, the Valparaiso men's golf team placed 12^th on Sunday at the Wolfpack Spring Open, hosted by North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C.

The Crusaders shot a team round of 314 on Sunday to finish in 12^th place out of the 15 competing teams, as the event was shortened to 18 holes due to a rained-out round on Saturday. Virginia claimed top team honors with a round of 292, while Logan Harrell of the host Wolfpack shot a tournament-best 67.

“Our first six holes of the day were the toughest stretch of holes on the course, and we discussed getting off to a solid start,” said Crusader head coach David Gring.  “We struggled through those holes, playing them 11-over par as a team.  We bounced back well through the middle of the round.”

A pair of Crusaders tied for team-best honors on Sunday, as both junior Joe Harris (Washington, Iowa/Washington) and senior Thomas Wettstein (Neenah, Wis./Xavier) shot rounds of 76 to tie for 26^th place.

“Joe played #4 and Tom played #5 for us today,” said Gring. “It was very positive to see those two guys at those two positions play as well as they did, with windy conditions and on a very good golf course.”

Senior Kyle Henning (Brookfield, Wis./East) and redshirt sophomore Jared Magoline (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac [Marquette]) shot matching rounds of 81 and tied for 61^st position, while freshman Peter Webb (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) was one stroke back of that duo in a tie for 68^th place after shooting an 82.

“While our team score today was not anywhere close to our standards, this was a very good tournament, with almost five teams ranked in the top-100 and three teams in the top-40,” said Gring. “The course played at 7,358 yards and is one of six sites for the NCAA Regionals next month. This tournament always prepares us well for our conference championship next week. We still have a lot of positives to take from the tournament.”

The defending Horizon League champions, Valparaiso will begin its quest for back-to-back league titles on Friday, April 25 at Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey in the Hills, Fla. The 54-hole tournament features a single 18-hole round on three consecutive days, with the league champion crowned on Sunday.