Valparaiso University men's golf senior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) closed out his fourth consecutive top-4 finish at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which concluded with the final 18 holes at the par-72, 7267-yard Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday. Following the round, Delisanti received significant hardware, as he was tabbed the Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Year, earned the league's Elite 18 Award and garnered a place on the All-MVC Team.
 
How It Happened

• Delisanti, who is ranked 144^th nationally by Clippd, carded a 71 (-1) in his final MVC Championship round on Tuesday, posting a 54-hole total of 211 (-5). He finished fourth on the player leaderboard, five strokes behind Murray State's Trey Wall, who was the individual medalist.
• The two seniors tied for the best score on the team in Tuesday's round as Sam Booth closed his collegiate career with a 71 (-1). He made an eight-stroke improvement from Round 1, returning to the lineup for Round 3 after being subbed out for the second round. He drained five birdies on Tuesday.
• Sophomore Adam Melliere finished with a 220 (+4) over 54 holes, tied for 17^th. He stroked a 74 (+2) on Tuesday.
• The third and final Valpo player who was part of the lineup for all three rounds and finished on the player leaderboard was sophomore Elliot Lee. He had his best round of the event with a 1-over 73 on Tuesday, finishing at 223 (t-24).
• Valpo finished with a team score of 875 (+11) for the tournament including a 289 (+1) in Round 3, the team's best round of the event. The Beacons placed fifth of 10. Illinois State took the team title at 856.

Inside the Tournament

• Delisanti, who owns a season scoring average of 69.56, achieved his seventh top-10 finish and fourth top-5 finish this season. He finished in the top four at the MVC Championship in all four years of his collegiate career including conference titles as a freshman and sophomore. Delisanti now has 27 career Top-10 finishes.
• Delisanti is currently in position to break the program's single-season scoring average record set by Caleb VanArragon at 69.62 last year. Delisanti holds a 71.15 career scoring average, in position to shatter VanArragon's record of 71.24.
• Delisanti became a two-time MVC Golfer of the Year on Tuesday as he previously won the award as a sophomore in 2023. He becomes the first repeat winner since David Perkins of Illinois State in 2020 and 2021.
• Valpo has won the league's top individual honor in three consecutive seasons as VanArragon captured the award in 2024. In the last 14 years, the award has gone to a player from either Wichita State (six times), Southern Illinois (three times), Illinois State (three times) or Valpo (three times) every year.
• This marks the fourth time a Valpo player has won a conference Golfer of the Year honor, as Peter Webb did so in the Horizon League in 2017 prior to the recent Delisanti/VanArragon run of success.
• Delisanti received the MVC Elite 18 Award, which is presented to the player with the highest cumulative grade point average among top finishers at the conference championship. Delisanti, who owns a 3.93 cumulative GPA, extended Valpo's streak of winning that award to five straight years. VanArragon took that honor in each of the last four seasons.
• Since the Elite 18 Award began in 2011, no other MVC program has won the award more than twice and Valpo has done so five times.
• Delisanti was named a First Team All-MVC performer for the fourth straight year, earning that distinction in each year of his collegiate career.
• Booth golfed 124 collegiate rounds, finishing with a scoring average of 75.53 that ranks ninth in program history. His season average of 73.55 is the 11^th in program history and second among golfers not named Delisanti or VanArragon as that duo owns the top nine spots in the single-season program record book. Booth's season scoring average was second to only Peter Webb' 2016-17 campaign (73.30) in terms of Valpo seasons by non-Deli/CVA players.
• The team season scoring average of 289.80 ranks second in program history, narrowly behind last year's average of 289.38.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
Coming soon on ValpoAthletics.com.
 
Up Next
Delisanti is a candidate for an individual at-large berth into the NCAA Regional. The NCAA Men's Golf Selection Show will take place on Wednesday, April 30 at noon on the Golf Channel. NCAA Regionals run May 12-14.
 
MVC Honors
Elite 18 Award Recipient:  Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso
Medalist:  Trey Wall, Murray State
Freshman of the Year:  Trey Wall, Murray State
Newcomer of the Year:  Anthony De Schutter, Southern Illinois
Golfer of the Year:  Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso
Coach of the Year:  Ray Kralis, Illinois State
 
All-Conference Team
TJ Barger, Illinois State
Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso
Anthony De Schutter, Southern Illinois
Tim Holmberg, Missouri State
Alex McCulla, Illinois State
JD Pollard, UNI
Carter Stevenson, Bradley
Trey Wall, Murray State
Jake Weissenburger, Drake
Foster Wood, Belmont