The Valparaiso University men's golf team made a significant improvement from Day 1 as one of five teams in an 18-team field to post a team score under par in Wednesday's third and final round of the GCU Invitational, hosted by Grand Canyon University at the par-71 GCU Golf Course in Phoenix. Senior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) led the way with a top-10 finish.
 
How It Happened

• After an even-par opening round and going one over in Round 2, Delisanti had his best round of the tournament to close the week on Tuesday. His 69 (-2) helped him finish at 212 (-1), placing ninth in a 99-golfer field. Delisanti had a team-high 15 birdies in the tournament.
• The next-best Beacon was sophomore Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook), who posted a three-round score of 223 (+10), highlighted by a 72 (+1) in Round 3. Lee had one of the team's two eagles in Phoenix, doing so on the par-5 10^th hole in Round 3. Fifth-year senior Sam Schmidt (College Station, Texas / College Station [Southern Nazarene]), who was golfing as an individual, eagled that same hole in that same round.
• Rounding out the team's top three for the tournament was senior Sam Booth (Carmel, Ind. /Carmel, whose score of 224 (+11) put him at t-68. He made a significant improvement from Tuesday to Wednesday, posting his first score of par or better in Round 3 at 71 (E).
• As a team, Valpo was 17 strokes better in Round 3 compared to each of the first two rounds at 283, joining GCU, Drake, Cal State Fullerton and Northern Illinois as teams with Round 3 scores under par.
• The Beacons finished the tournament at 883 (+31), tied for 15^th of 18. GCU won the team title at 840, while GCU's Tommaso Zorzetto and CSU Fullerton's Tegan Andrews each carded 204 and were still deadlocked after a six-hole playoff, at which time co-champs were declared.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"With the first 36 holes yesterday, we had our struggles in numerous areas. This is the second consecutive tournament where we are playing on Bermuda grass and the tight lies around the green were a real challenge for us. We knew we would have those conditions, but it's so different for us and we don't practice enough on those types of lies. Our chipping and pitch shots around the green were pretty poor all three rounds. Also, we struggled again with playing in windy conditions, with up to 25 mile-per-hour gusts yesterday. We have to manage the course and our shots better in those types of conditions. Lastly, our green reading and putting speed still needs to improve a lot. Getting more practice and play outside is going to help us."
 
"We have a resilient team and I'm very proud of how the guys stepped up today, putting the poor performance from yesterday behind them and playing with a better focus and execution. They could have stuck their heads in the sand, but they stayed positive and kept grinding. We know that we can compete with the teams in this field and today's round was more of how we are accustomed to scoring. We had 20 birdies as a team and any time we are in the 20s plus, we typically score very well."
 
"Our scoring was much more balanced today. Anthony led the team with six birdies, Adam had five and Sam and Elliot had four and three, respectively. The toughest stretch of the course is holes five through nine, and we played those at four over for the scores that counted, much better than Rounds 1 and 2. Adam had his best ball-striking round of the year, despite a tough finish on the 54th hole. We still have a lot to work on before next week's tournament and we look forward to a good week of practice."
 
Up Next
Valpo will be back on the course on Sunday, March 23 at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in Mobile, Ala. A link to live scoring will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.