Senior
Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook) led the way as the Valparaiso University men's golf team played the final round of its fall season on Tuesday at the Zach Johnson Invitational, hosted by Drake at the par-71, 6961-yard Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. In terms of overall score, the Beacons turned in their best team tournament and round scores of the fall on Tuesday.
How It Happened
- Lee matched a career-low with a 68 (-3) in Tuesday's third round, moving up 23 spots on the player leaderboard by finishing the tournament at 219. He had just one bogey on the day, which came on his second hole of the round after he teed off from Hole 10. Lee closed his fall season in style, eagling his final hole of the tournament, the par-5 ninth.
- Freshman Tyler Samaan (Elgin, Ill. / Burlington) had the team's best 54-hole tournament score at 216 after a 70 (-1) on Tuesday. He moved up 11 spots on the leaderboard and into a tie for 22nd in the 79-player field. Samaan played his final five holes of the tournament at two under, thanks in large part to an eagle on Hole 4, which was a par 4.
- Redshirt senior Ryan Somerville (Aurora, Ontario / Aurora) was second on the team for the tournament at 217 (t-25). He posted a 3-over 74 on Tuesday.
- Valpo finished the tournament with its best team round of the fall season in terms of overall score and second-best in relation to par at 287 (+3), moving up to eight of 13 on the leaderboard, ahead of Omaha, Western Illinois, Creighton, Eastern Illinois and UNI. Valpo's 54-hole total of 870 (+18) was its best of the fall in terms of overall score and second-best in relation to par. Lindenwood and South Dakota State topped the team leaderboard at 840, while SDSU's Jake Olson's 8-under 205 earned him medalist honors.
Thoughts From Head Coach Dave Gring
"I'm thrilled with how we finished the fall portion of our 2026-2027 schedule! While the eighth-place finish is modest at best, we played very solid on an excellent golf course for the past two days. We improved our team score steadily each round, and we finished our final round today with our second-best team score of the fall season. We had two of our Top-5 best single-round team scores in yesterday's second round and today's final round. Four of our five players had scores under par for at least one of the rounds and Elliot and Ryan had their best rounds of the fall season in this tournament. We had our best week of practice this past week, and I'm not at all surprised that we played solid on one of the best courses we will play all year."
"Our ball-striking was exceptional today. Adam and Rob hit 12 greens in regulation, while Ryan and Elliot hit 14 and Tyler hit 17. We gave ourselves a lot of opportunities for birdies today, making 15 birdies and two eagles. We still left an awful lot of birdies on the course, but the green complexes are excellent on this golf course. We had to count two double bogeys and we had numerous 3-putts. These are some of the areas that we will be working on this offseason. At the very least, we start our offseason training with some really good momentum from the fall and we will look forward to the start of the spring season in late February."
Up Next
The Beacons will swing back into action during the spring semester as they compete in the Savannah Intercollegiate at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga. beginning on Saturday, Feb. 20. A link to live scoring via Clippd will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.
