The Valparaiso University men's golf team closed out the Peoples Golf Championship, hosted by Western Carolina at the par-71, 6664-yard Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga. with the third and final round of the tournament on Saturday. Senior Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) had the team's best Round-3 score, while the Beacons finished with their best 54-hole tournament in relation to par so far this season.
 
How It Happened

• Sander was the lone Beacon under par on Saturday, carding a 1-under 70. He eagled the par-5 fourth hole for the second straight day. A bogey on 18 was the lone blemish on his scorecard that otherwise featured even par on 16 holes. Sander finished the tournament tied for 67^th of 123 at 221 (+8).
• Redshirt junior Ryan Somerville (Aurora, Ontario / Aurora) and junior Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) shared the team lead at 216 (+3). Somerville had a front-9 birdiefest on Saturday, notching circles on his scorecard four times in a six-hole stretch. Carried by a 3-under 32 on the front, he finished the day at 72 (+1).
• Melliere had a solid day outside of one rough hole, as a triple on 14 disrupted what was otherwise an even-par round. He finished at 74 (+3) on Saturday.
• As a team, the Beacons finished in the top half of the field with a 54-hole score of 859 (+7). Xavier won the tournament at 838 (-14) and boasted medalist Cayse Morgan (202, -11).

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"I'm very pleased with the team's performance the last few days and during this tournament. We have been working on building momentum as we go through the spring season, and this was a positive step for us with a Top-10 team finish. This was our best team score of the year and we had three players with their best rounds of the year in this tournament. We showed ourselves that we can compete in large fields, with warm-weather teams and teams in our conference. We were able to put together three team scores right around par, and we still left shots out there for each of those three rounds."
 
"What has me most excited about this tournament performance is that the team was genuinely excited to compete and they were really pulling for each other, which shows great camaraderie.  We have had our challenges this season, and the guys seemed to turn a corner toward a higher level of confidence, putting trust in their process and pre-shot routine and executing a lot of good shots. We have been talking about patience in the process, staying positive and staying focused in the moment, and the team executed all of that very well."
 
"Today's round was the best start we have had to any round this year, let alone a final round of a tournament. We had 11 birdies and an eagle on the front nine, and the guys turned the front nine at seven under par. Proximity to the hole was better and they made a lot of good putts. We simply couldn't sustain that momentum on the back nine, and even though we only had three birdies on the back nine, the guys played hard through the entire round. We have a lot of positive takeaways from this tournament, and we are excited for our next competition in a couple weeks."
 
Up Next
The Beacons will return to the course on Monday, March 30 to play in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate at RTJ Magnolia Grove Falls in Mobile, Ala. A link to live scoring will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.