Valparaiso University men's golf senior Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) began his third career NCAA Regional appearance on Monday, golfing the opening round of the Urbana Regional, hosted by the University of Illinois at the par-71, 7533-yard Atkins Golf Club in Urbana, Ill.
 
Delisanti carded a 76 (+5) in the opening round of action. His front nine was played through intermittent rain ranging from light to moderate before conditions improved to sunny and pleasant during the back nine. Delisanti, who played with Wright State's Adam Horn and Indiana's Clay Merchant in the opening round, sits at t-57 in a 75-player field comprised of 12 teams and 10 individuals.
 
With the rain perhaps playing a factor, Delisanti bogeyed two of the first three and three of the first five holes, going to three over early in the round. He reached par in four consecutive holes to close out the front nine, making the turn at 3-over 39. His back nine began with a double bogey on the par-4 10^th hole, but he followed that with his best stretch on the day on holes 11 through 14, posting two pars and a pair of par-4 birdies to make up the ground he lost on Hole 10. Delisanti bogeyed the par-5 15^th and par-3 17^th, finishing the back nine with a 2-over 37 to close out the day with at +5.
 
"This great game of golf that we play can be very rewarding at times," head coach Dave Gring said. "On other days, it can just chew you up and spit you out! Today's first round was a challenge for Anthony, since the course management component was just fine, but the execution side simply wasn't there. Anthony only hit seven fairways off the tee and seven greens in regulation. He struggled off the tee with penalty shots on three different holes because of poor shot execution. That led to two bogeys and a double bogey on those three holes. His driver was good all day, except the tee shot on Hole #10. His wedges were very sharp and his putting was solid. He had 28 putts on the day, he didn't have any 3-putts and he didn't miss anything inside of seven feet."
 
Host No. 14 Illinois leads the team portion of the Regional at -7 and has the top player with Jackson Buchanan at -8. Missouri Valley Conference team champion Illinois State is eighth of 13 at +5, while fellow MVC individual Trey Wall – who earned the league's autobid by winning the conference tournament, is tied for 68^th at +7.
 
Delisanti will tee off the second round of the 54-hole Regional from Hole 1 at 10:01 a.m. on Tuesday. He will play Tuesday's round with Wright State's Timmy Hollenbeck and Dayton's Ben Cors. A link to live scoring via Clippd is available on ValpoAthletics.com.