Freshman Charlie Davenport (Clarendon Hills, Ill. / Benet Academy) carded a 68 (-2) in the second round, the best 18 by a Beacon this season, leading members of the Valparaiso University men's golf team who participated in the Golfweek "Put Me in Coach" Invite on Monday at the par-70, 6438-yard Delaware Country Club in Muncie, Ind. This unique event featured individuals only and no team scoring.
 
How It Happened

• Davenport is in the top 10 of 34 through 36 holes, sitting tied for ninth at 143 (+3). He improved his score by seven strokes from Round 1 to Round 2 en route to the aforementioned career best round. Prior to Monday, no Beacon had gone sub-70 this season. Davenport did not have any holes in the front nine above par in either round, including a stellar front nine in Round 2 where he stroked a 30 (-5) with five birdies and four pars.
• Four Valpo individuals are playing in this tournament, including freshmen Brayden Fetzer (Trumbull, Conn.) and Rafael Gutierrez Gonzalez (Mexico City, Mexico / The Learning Club), who both made their collegiate debuts on Monday. Fetzer was second among Valpo players with a 36-hole score of 146 (+6), highlighted by a 71 (+1) in Round 1.
• Redshirt junior Ryan Somerville (Aurora, Ontario / Aurora) had a pair of eagles in the opening round, needing just three strokes apiece on the par-5 fourth and 15^th holes as part of a 71 (+1).
• Michigan State's Julian Menser leads the tournament at 134 (-6). Individuals from Michigan State, Purdue, Ball State, Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Marshall, Indiana Wesleyan, Vincennes and Valpo are participating this week.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"Brayden had a very consistent first round for us, with only two bogeys and one birdie. His ball-striking was terrific and he narrowly missed a handful of birdies throughout the round. While Ryan matched Brayden's score, his scorecard had two birdies and eagles on both of the Par 5s.  Ryan finished the last two holes of that round strong with a birdie and an eagle. Our birdie production was low in the first round with only seven birdies, and we simply couldn't get enough putts to drop."
 
"In the second round, our birdie production was much better. We had 15 birdies in that round, led by Charlie's five on the front nine and a total of six for the round. Charlie really bounced back well from his first round with a solid two under second round. We offset a lot of our second-round birdies with nine double-bogeys, making some poor course management and club selection decisions. The wind had picked-up and our execution just wasn't as sharp in the second round. The guys stayed resilient and finished the last six holes of the second round at one over."
 
Up Next
The event will continue with 18 more holes on Tuesday.