The Valparaiso University men's golf team played the second round of the Bryan National Collegiate, which concluded at the par-72, 7175-yard Bryan Park GC in Browns Summit, N.C. on Sunday. Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) and Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook) shared the best score by a Beacon in Round 2.
 
How It Happened

• Golfing as an individual, Lee posted a 36-hole score of 147 to lead the team, including a 76 (+4) in Sunday's round.
• Sander had the best round among counting scores for the Beacons on Sunday, tying Lee with a 76. Sander made a seven-stroke improvement from Round 1 to Round 2.
• The next-best score came from sophomore Rob Politza (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont Township), who turned in a 77 (+5) on Sunday.
• The second round was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but inclement weather created a 36-hole plan for Sunday. Due to travel considerations, Valpo withdrew prior to the completion of the third round.  

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"There's always excitement and anticipation to start our competitive season. The guys are all playing during the summer in a lot of quality tournaments. It's still different to play D1 regular and postseason tournaments, since those are team competitions and there's much more accountability to your teammates and coaches. While it was good to get our season started, we still had a lot of rust to kick off. One of the best attributes of competition is that it tells us exactly what we need to work on to improve."
 
"The Champions Course at Bryan Park is a terrific golf course and it was a good test for us. We have to improve our accuracy off the tee and hitting more fairways. That's going to allow us to hit more greens and give us more birdie opportunities. We also need to improve our wedge accuracy and proximity to the hole.  We're still missing too many greens in reg even from the fairway. Lastly, our putting speed has to get much better. We can read the putts well and still miss short putts and accuracy, when our speed is poor. We have a lot to work on prior to our next event and we will get after it."
 
Up Next
The Beacons will play in the Badger Invitational hosted by Wisconsin at TPC Wisconsin in Madison beginning on Monday, Sept. 22.