Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) put together a strong start to his senior season, leading the Valparaiso University men's golf team on Sunday's first day of the three-day, 54-hole Bryan National Collegiate, hosted by UNCG at the par-72, 7276-yard Bryan Park in Browns Summit, N.C.
How It Happened
- Delisanti sits in a tie for fifth place in the 10-team, 65-player field after carding a 70 (-2) in the opening round. He birdied Holes 1, 9 and 17 while bogeying the 15th.
- Golfing as an individual, Sam Schmidt (College Station, Texas / College Station [Southern Nazarene]) had a strong showing in his Valpo debut. He posted an even-par round of 72 and is at t-15 through one day of competition. Schmidt had five birdies in the round including a string of three in succession on Holes 15-17.
- Schmidt was one of three players who made their Beacon debuts on Sunday. Freshmen Rodrigo Garcia Teruel (Puebla, Mexico / Modern Academy) and Rob Politza (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont Township) both golfed their first collegiate rounds, Politza as an individual and Garcia as part of the starting lineup.
- The second-best Beacon among those counting toward the team score was Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel), whose 75 (+3) put him at t-33 with 36 holes remaining in the tournament.
- Valpo is eighth of 10 on the team leaderboard at 302 (+14). Host UNCG has the top spot at 279, while BJ Boyce of the Spartans shot a 66 (-6) on Day 1 to put himself in the top spot on the player leaderboard.
Results Link
Click here for full results from Day 1.
Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"The conditions could not have been better for our first competitive round of the fall season. While the weather was perfect, the team struggled with our shot execution and that led to a good amount of missed birdie opportunities and bogeys. I thought our course management was good, and the guys had a good plan for how they were going to attack the course. We just had too many shots offline, short of our target or short-sided by the green."
"In addition to our two senior captains, we had a young lineup with two sophomores and one of our freshmen starting for us today. Despite the poor play, the guys were encouraging each other and still staying positive throughout the round. After we finished play, the entire team spent some time on the practice green and then on the practice range, working on the areas that needed attention from today. We have rounds tomorrow and Tuesday and we look forward to better execution on the golf course."
Up Next
The tournament will continue on Monday with the second round of the three-day event. A link to live scoring via Clippd is available on ValpoAthletics.com.
