Junior
Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) picked a good time for his season-low round, carding a 68 (-3) to lead the Valparaiso University men's golf team in Monday's second round of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, held at the par-71, 6860-yard Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill.
How It Happened
- Melliere tied his career-low round with his 68 on Monday, matching a score that he reached several times in previous seasons including in Round 2 of the MVC Championship as a freshman in 2024. His showing on Monday, which ranked third outright for the round in the 45-player field, helped him climb 10 spots on the player leaderboard into a tie for seventh.
- The top-5 finishers (plus ties) at the MVC Championship will earn all-conference honors, something Melliere achieved during his freshman season. Entering Tuesday's final round, Melliere is at 141 (-1) for the tournament, just one stroke behind a tie for fifth that would allow him to achieve All-MVC recognition.
- Melliere teed off his glowing round with a birdie on Hole 10, then proceeded to hit even par on 10 consecutive holes. He notched his second birdie of the day on Hole 3, then encountered his lone boxed-in number of the round when he needed six strokes on the par-5 fifth. Melliere bounced right back from his lone bogey of the day, birdieing two of the next three holes to lower his score to three strokes under par.
- Melliere played Valpo's third round of 68 or better this season, matching Elliot Lee (The Peoples Golf Championship, Round 2) and Charlie Davenport (Put Me in Coach Invite Round 2) for the team's season low in terms of 18-hole overall score. In relation to par, Melliere joined the aforementioned Lee round as just the second Valpo round of the season at -3.
- Sophomore Rob Politza (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont Township) also improved upon his Round-1 score in Tuesday's second round. He turned in a 72 (+1), offsetting four bogeys with three birdies. He advanced two spots on the player leaderboard on Monday and is now tied for 15th with a 3-over 145.
- All four players who had countable scores on Monday improved from their Round-1 performances. Senior Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) had the third-best Beacon round with a 75 (+4).
- Valpo eclipsed two teams on the team leaderboard on Monday, using a 291 (+7) to finish the day at 591 (+23), moving ahead of Bradley (592) and UNI (603). Valpo trailed Bradley by 13 strokes entering Monday before rallying past the Braves in Round 2 of the event. Valpo is three strokes behind Belmont and six behind Drake, making a top-5 team finish within striking distance with the final 18 holes of the event on the horizon.
- The weather was better on Sunday, so Valpo was one of only three teams in the nine-team field that improved from Round 1 to Round 2. Another of those was Illinois State, which took over the team lead at 556 by going 11 under on Monday. Francis Bautista of the Redbirds has a five-stroke lead for medalist honors at 132 (67-65), and is in position to threaten the MVC Championship record of 200 held by Valpo's Anthony Delisanti (2023).
Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"Our putting improved today, and that was evident in both our birdie production and scores. Adam led the way for us with four birdies, while Owen and Rob both had three birdies. We started on the back nine today, and we struggled through the middle of the first nine holes, playing Holes 13-16 at +14. That is basically the toughest stretch of the golf course. We're going to need to play that stretch better tomorrow to improve our team score even further."
"Adam really played well for us today, hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation and 12 of 14 fairways. His strokes gained putting was +2.74 for the round, which was one of his best putting days all year. It was Adam's best round of the year and he managed the course very well in the windy conditions. Adam leads the tournament field in the number of pars at 27. Rob had another solid round for us today, hitting 12 of 18 greens in regulation and 11 of 14 fairways. Just like Adam, he had 30 putts for the round. Rob has played both rounds with a lot of confidence. The temps will be a little cooler tomorrow, but the rain is out of the forecast and we look forward to the final round."
Up Next
The Missouri Valley Conference Championship will conclude on Tuesday at Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill. with Round 3 of the event with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. A link to live scoring via Clippd will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.
