Valparaiso University men's golf senior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) sits in fourth place in a 50-player field at the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which began with 36 holes on Monday at the par-72, 7267-yard Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa. Delisanti enters Tuesday's final round with hopes of securing his fourth straight top-3 finish and potentially his third career conference medalist win.
 
How It Happened

• Delisanti, ranked 144^th nationally by Clippd and first among MVC golfers, started the tournament by stroking a 71 (-1) in the opening round with three birdies and two bogeys. He followed with a 69 (-3) in Round 2, using five birdies to counteract two bogeys.
• Delisanti's 36-hole total of 140 is one stroke behind Murray State's Jay Nimmo for third, two behind Belmont's Foster Wood for second and three beyond Murray State's Trey Wall for the top spot.
• Murray State holds a one-stroke lead on Illinois State in a battle for the team title. Those two squads are 10 or more strokes ahead of the rest of the field. Valpo is tied for fifth at +10.
• Sophomore Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) is tied for 16^th on the player leaderboard with a 146. He shot an even-par 72 in the opening round before following with a 2-over 74 in Round 2.
• Sophomore Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook) was third on the team with a pair of 75s, tied for 27^th.

 
Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"We talk a lot about the importance of Par-3 and Par-5 scoring in our rounds. When we can win those battles with those sets of holes in a given round for the team, it typically bodes well for us. In the first round today, we played the Par 3s at one under, which was terrific and it was the best in the field. In the second round, we didn't play the Par 3s well at all, finishing the round at six over. Our primary problem today was taking advantage of the Par 5s and using those holes as scoring opportunities. In the first round, we played those holes very poorly and the team was five over. In the second round, we played the Par 5s at even par. We're going to have to play both of those sets of holes much better and to our ability tomorrow for us to make up any ground on the field."
 
"We made a substitution in the second round and Owen Sander gave us a good boost in scoring.  He had three birdies, but his two bogeys and one double-bogey were the results of poor putting.  Adam's ball-striking was excellent, hitting over 70 percent of his greens in regulation and over 60 percent of his fairways in regulation. Anthony led our team with eight birdies, paired with only four bogeys for the two rounds. His ball-striking wasn't as sharp for him today, but he putted well and his chipping around the greens was good. We're going to have to play very solid in all phases of the game tomorrow. This team has been resilient all year, and we are excited to get after it tomorrow."
 
Up Next
Valpo will play the final round of the event at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday. A link to live scoring via Clippd is available on ValpoAthletics.com.