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The Valparaiso University men’s golf team climbed into a tie for fourth on the team leaderboard thanks to a solid showing on Friday’s second day of the Peoples Golf Championship, hosted by Western Carolina at the par-71, 6664-yard Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga. Junior Elliot Lee (Tillamook, Ore. / Tillamook) led the way with the best round of his career.
 
How It Happened


Lee carded a 68 (-3), outdoing his career best by a stroke. He eagled the par-4 12th hole while adding four birdies. He holds a 143 (+1) through 36 holes, tied for 25th on the player leaderboard.
Sophomore Rob Politza (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont Township) leads the team for the tournament at 141 (-1), 18th of 123. He posted a 71 (E) on Friday.
Junior Adam Melliere (Zionsville, Ind. / Zionsville) is just one stroke behind Politza for the team lead through 36 holes. He turned in a 73 on Friday to finish the day with a 36-hole score of 142 (E), tied for 19th.
The Beacons had a pair of eagles on the day as senior Owen Sander (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) needed only three strokes on the par-5 fourth hole.
Valpo climbed into a tie for fifth in a 21-team field. The Beacons shot an even-par 284 – the team’s best score of the season – to move to a two-day total of 569, 10 strokes behind first-place Western Carolina. Gavin Isbell (Samford) and Cayse Morgan (Xavier) are tied atop the player leaderboard going into Saturday’s final round.

Thoughts from Head Coach Dave Gring
“I’m proud of the team for following up a solid first-round team score yesterday with another quality team score today. This was our most consistent round of the year by our 5-man team, with all five scores from 68 to 73. We have been focusing on five scores that are consistent around even par, and it was exciting to see all five guys participating in the team effort. Our ball-striking was very good again today and the guys really managed the golf course very well. We continue to play the Par 3s well this spring, with all five players at a total of +2 for today’s round. We played the Par 5s a little better today, especially on the front nine.”
 
“We had our best birdie production of the entire season in today’s round, with 15 birdies and two eagles. We are still missing opportunities inside of 10′, but our proximity to the hole with our approach shots is getting better and the guys are simply making more putts. Elliot had four birdies and an eagle; Ryan had four birdies; Owen had three birdies and an eagle. For the second consecutive day, our accuracy in hitting fairways off the tee and greens in regulation were both over 70 percent, which is tremendous. We’re going to need to drop even more putts tomorrow, and I’m confident that the opportunities are going to be there.”
 
Up Next
The Beacons will play the third and final round of the Peoples Golf Championship at Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga. on Saturday. A link to live scoring via LeaderboardKing is available on ValpoAthletics.com.
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