The men’s golf team teed off its spring season in Houston with an excellent round last Monday at the Colin Montgomerie Houston Baptist Invitational. The Braves started strong with an opening round score of 288 and a 295 in the second round to sit in third place after the first day.
However, the Braves struggled to find consistency Tuesday with a final round score of 302 to finish tied for 7th out of 13 teams.
“It is the mental errors that we really need to clean up the most,” Roche said.
Junior Ethan Brue led the Braves with a score of 218. He missed the top-10 overall by one stroke, snapping a five-tournament streak of top-10 finishes dating back to the fall.
“He will continue to hit his stride as he goes forward,” Roche said. “He really grinded it out.”
The next best score was sophomore Drake Bushong’s 221, followed by redshirt sophomore Dan Lensing with 224, sophomore Branden Mounce with 226 and redshirt junior Zach Jewell with 229.
While the men were just starting up their spring season, the women were competing in their second tournament of the year at Rio Verde Invitational, finishing in a tie for 12th of 19 teams.
The Braves started the invitational with a score of 311 but bounced back with a 288 in round two, finishing with a final round score of 313.
“We demonstrated our potential in the second round but struggled with consistency,” head coach Mary Swanson said.
Junior Grace Henderson paced the Braves with a score of 229 and was the only player on the team to shoot under 80 every round.
“[Henderson’s] finish was very exciting for us as well,” Swanson said. “She is healthy and has had a lot of solid practice and play under her belt.”
Henderson was followed up by sophomore Frankie Saban, who carded a two-under par 70 in round two, and junior Ally Scaccia, each shooting 232. Freshman Taylor Ledwein shot 234 and sophomore Chloe Horton rounded out the team with a score of 236.
The men and women are in action again March 13 and 14 for the Bradley Spring Break Invitational in Dallas.
