Sophomore Rob Politza (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont Township) closed out the 2025-26 season with the best round of his collegiate career, turning in a 66 to lead the Valparaiso University men's golf team to a season best in Round 3 of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which wrapped up on Tuesday at the par-71, 6860-yard Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill.
 
How It Happened

• Politza trimmed six strokes off his Round-2 score, finishing the event with a 54-hole score of 211 (-2) after a 66 (-5) on Tuesday. He nailed an eye-popping seven birdies in Tuesday's round, outdoing his previous season and career best of 69 by three strokes.
• Politza's Tuesday round was the best score, both overall and in relation to par, by a Valpo player all season. His score tied for 13^th in program history overall and tied for 19^th in relation to par. In terms of overall score, he tied for the sixth best score in program history by someone other than Anthony Delisanti and was one stroke away from the best by someone other than the program recordholder.
• Junior Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) finished two strokes behind Politza at 213 (E) after carding a 1-over 72 on Tuesday. He hit par or better on 16 of 18 holes during Tuesday's round.
• Politza finished ninth in the 45-player field, while Melliere was just outside the top 10, placing 11^th outright. Politza picked a good time for the first top-10 finish of his collegiate career. He moved up six spots during the third round.
• All five Valpo players posted scores of +1 or better on Tuesday, including three scores of par or better. The team's second-best Round-3 score came courtesy of junior Elliot Lee, who posted a pair of birdies and just one bogey in the final round to finish at 70 (-1).
• Valpo steadily improved throughout the MVC Championship, improving by nine strokes from Round 1 to Round 2 and then bettering the team score by another 12 strokes on Tuesday with a 279 (-5) to finish with a three-round total of 870 (+16). The team's 279 on Tuesday tied for the eighth-best single-round team score in program history and lowered the team's previous season-low round by six strokes.
• The Beacons jumped another spot on the team leaderboard on Tuesday, finishing the tournament in sixth of nine after surging past Belmont during the final round. The Beacons finished ahead of Bradley, Belmont and UNI, and were three strokes away from a top-5 team finish.
• Redshirt junior Ryan Somerville (Aurora, Ontario / Aurora) finished the season as the team leader in scoring average at 74.24, edging out Melliere at 74.79. Melliere owns a career scoring average of 74.52 that ranks fifth in program history, while Lee is 10^th at 75.30.
• Illinois State's Francis Bautista took medalist honors at -10, edging SIU's Anthony De Schutter by a single stroke. Illinois State and Murray State tied for the best 54-hole team score at -13, with Illinois State clinching the MVC title and automatic NCAA Tournament berth in the second round of a team playoff. There were three lightning delays before and during the team playoff, but eventually the Redbirds outlasted the Racers as the MVC title was decided on a playoff for the first time since 1971.  

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
"Today's round was exactly how we talked about ending our season and finishing the tournament strong. After Sunday's first round, the team had played poorly and I could tell the guys were feeling the weight of the conference tournament. They could have easily 'checked-out' for the remainder of the tournament, since we were in last place and we had really dug ourselves a hole. But to steal a term from Coach Roger Powell, the team showed 'grit' in their performance yesterday and again today. They spent extra time on the range and putting green Sunday evening, and they improved our team scores by 11 shots yesterday and another 12 shots today. I'm really proud of their effort, working through the adversity and playing with great confidence and pride in today's final round."
 
"We had our best team score (-5) and our best individual round (66 - Rob Politza) of the entire season today. Our ball-striking was exemplary, with all five guys hitting at least 13 of 18 greens in regulation and eight to 11 fairways. In today's round, we had our best day of putting out of the three rounds and four of the five guys had their best round of the tournament. Rob played absolutely tremendous for us! He hit 11 fairways and 15 greens in regulation and he had 25 total putts, which was his best performance all year. Today's round will give us an extra level of momentum going into the offseason and preparing for next year."
 
"The only player that we will lose to graduation this year is Owen Sander. Owen played in the 5-spot for us in this tournament, and he played with great passion and energy. Owen was a tremendous leader for us all four years he played for the Brown & Gold. Our team will miss his competitiveness, sense of humor and willingness to literally leave everything he has on the golf course for the sake of the team. We wish Owen all the best after his graduation!"