The Valparaiso University men’s golf team will look to climb on a tightly-packed leaderboard on Wednesday’s final day of the Golfweek/AGT Intercollegiate, which continued with Round 2 on Tuesday at the par-72, 6989-yard True Blue Golf Club in Pawleys Island, S.C. Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) paced the squad in Tuesday’s round.  

How It Happened

• Booth carded a 72 (E), the best Round-2 score on the team. He enters Wednesday’s final round with a 36-hole score of 145 (t-27).
• Senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) still leads the team for the tournament after a 73 (+1) on Tuesday. He is tied for 10^th of 96 on the player leaderboard at 142 (-2).
• Tied for 27^th alongside Booth is Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield), who posted a 75 on Tuesday to enter the final day at 145.
• While golfing as an individual, Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) stroked a 73 (+1) to tie for the team’s second-best score of the day.
• The Beacons carded a team score of 294 to finish the day at 579, tied for sixth with High Point in an 18-team field. They are narrowly behind a tie for fourth between UConn and Jacksonville State (577) and only seven strokes out of second. Troy leads at 563, while UConn’s Jared Nelson is atop the player leaderboard at 137 (-7).

Inside the Round

• Valpo has 28 birdies for the tournament. The two players golfing as individuals – Sander and Padraic Sim (Spanish Fort, Ala. / Spanish Fort [Oregon]) – have eight birdies apiece to lead the team.
• Sander and Sim also both recorded eagles on Tuesday. Both came on the par-5 fourth hole.
• VanArragon is tied for fourth in the tournament field in par-5 scoring at 4.60.  

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“The team had a decent start to the round, playing the first Par 5 at two under and the first three holes at one under. We played the Par-5 fourth hole very poorly, but we bounced back with six birdies in the next five holes, with three of them on the Par-5 ninth hole. We made 10 birdies on the front nine and made the turn in a decent position in the tourney. We played the 10th hole poorly, but we played the three Par 3s on the back nine even par. We only made five birdies on the back nine, and it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the field.”

“One of the important scoring areas that we emphasize as a team is our Par-5 scoring. This is the second round in a row where we simply did not take advantage of the Par 5s, which are optimal scoring opportunities for every team. We played the five Par 5s at two over and we lost a lot of shots to the field in those five holes. It was a combination of some poor tee shots, poor approach shots and not getting up-and-down around the green.”

“We’re looking forward to getting after it tomorrow and finishing the tournament strong. We have an opportunity to play well in the third round and move up the leaderboard. The golf course is in fantastic shape and it looks like another terrific day of weather here in Myrtle Beach.”

Up Next

Valpo will close out the event on Wednesday at True Blue GC in Pawleys Island, S.C. A link to live scoring via GolfStat is available on ValpoAthletics.com.