The Valparaiso University men’s golf team finished out the program’s first ever tournament held outside of the United States on Saturday, golfing the final 27 holes of the 54-hole Monterrey Collegiate Classic, hosted by George Washington at the par-72, 3483-yard Mitras Club Campestre Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico this weekend. Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) capped a top-3 finish in a quality field that featured 62 players from 10 programs. The team posted its best 54-hole tournament score in nine years, finishing the fall season on a positive note.

How It Happened

• Delisanti posted a 66 (-6) in Saturday’s final round after finishing Round 2 with a 68. He compiled a 54-hole score of 203 (-13), tied for third on the player leaderboard. Max Bengtsson of Tarleton State took medalist honors with a 201 (-15).
• Fifth-year senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) also enjoyed his best round of the tournament in the third and final round on Saturday. He carded a 67 to close the event at 210, which put him in a tie for 17^th.
• The team’s third-best Round-3 score came out of the No. 5 spot in the lineup, as freshman Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook) delivered his second round of 70 or better this weekend with a 70. He tied for 31^st in the field at 217.
• Valpo posted its best team score of the event at 278, finishing the three rounds at 843 (-21). The Beacons moved up to sixth of 10 on the team leaderboard with Saturday’s showing, while Utah State won the event at 835 (-29).

Inside the Rounds

• Valpo tied for the tournament lead with 166 pars, but was in the lower portion of the tournament in terms of birdie production with 54.
• The Beacons did have a pair of eagles as Delisanti and VanArragon picked up one apiece. Delisanti eagled the par-5 fifth hole in Round 3, while VanArragon’s came on Hole 10 in Round 2, also a par 5.
• Delisanti paced the team with 15 birdies, followed by VanArragon with 14.
• Delisanti’s round of 66 on Saturday marked his best of the season, outdoing his previous season best by four strokes. He tied VanArragon’s first round at the Valpo Fall Invitational for the best by a Beacon this season.
• Delisanti’s 66 in Round 3 is tied for eighth in modern program history in 18-hole low in terms of overall score. By going six strokes under, he tied for fifth in program history in 18-hole score in relation to par.
• Delisanti’s tournament score of 203 is tied for fourth in modern program history for 54-hole tournament overall score. Three of the top five in the program record book have come this season and all five have come either this year or last year courtesy of either Delisanti or VanArragon.
• In relation to par, Delisanti’s 54-hole tournament score of -13 is tied for second in program history. He is behind only VanArragon’s -15 at this year’s Valpo Fall Invitational.
• Valpo’s 54-hole team score of 843 was one stroke behind the program record 842 set at the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge. In relation to par, the team’s 21 strokes under is also behind only the 2014 Golfweek Program Challenge (-22) in the modern record book.
• Valpo’s Round-3 team score of 278 is tied for third in the program record book, and tied for second in relation to par at -10.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring

“I’m really proud of the efforts by the team for the final 27 holes of this tournament. We needed to have a strong final day and finish the fall season on a high note. The guys made all of the adjustments we talked about last night and played with a lot of passion and confidence. We had a balanced effort by the entire team and everyone simply played better. We weren’t able to move up much more on the leaderboard with the poor start in Round 1, but we bounced back and had our best round of the fall season.”

“We had another very fast start to the day and played the first five holes at 10 under. We really took advantage of the Par 5s and played them at 19 under for the final 27 holes. That was a significant improvement for us over the first day, and it showed us what we’re capable of doing when our execution is better on those holes. We started the final round with a lot of pars and only four bogeys on the front nine. The final nine holes was one of our best and we finished strong at seven under. We played the Par 3s very well in the final round at only two over.”

“We had another sub-par round from Elliot, who played in our fifth position. He gave us two subpar rounds for the tournament, and played with a lot of confidence. Caleb and Anthony improved their scores in each round and both of them had an exceptional final round today. Caleb had his best nine holes of the tournament, making five birdies on the back nine. Anthony’s ball striking was remarkable the entire tournament and he was right in the mix to win the tournament individually coming down the stretch. He narrowly missed a couple birdies in the final four holes and despite playing so well, couldn’t close the final gap. Today, we were able to get a little glimpse as to what our team is capable of doing and that is exciting as we look forward to the spring season.”

Up Next

The spring schedule will commence on Feb. 25 at the TPC Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico.