After taking first place in the Zach Johnson Invitational at Drake University two weeks ago, the men’s golf team backed up its dominating performance with a very lackluster round. In the first round of the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate, Bradley shot a 317, putting the team in a deep hole early on.
“It would have been a good task to win the tournament with the No. 1 team in the country there,” head coach Jeff Roche said. “I think we put a little added pressure on ourselves. We started off a little tight. We’ve done that in other tournaments, but we’ve been confident enough to turn it around fairly quickly. This week, we put pressure on ourselves knowing the number one team in the country is there.”
Junior Ethan Brue agreed that the team was a little tight, saying most teams acknowledged they were competing against the University of Illinois, the top team in the country.
“I believe coming into the tournament at Drake, we thought we were the best team there,” Brue said. “We just had a lot of confidence going into it. In this past tournament, Illinois was there. I don’t think we had the right mindset coming into the tournament.”
Though it took them a while, Bradley eventually rebounded – and in a big way. The Braves finished in sixth place, but in rounds two and three, only Illinois scored better.
“If we even just shoot an average round in the first round, we put ourselves in the running for a second or third place finish,” Roche said. “On the flip side, we did a phenomenal job of coming back in the second round … it says a lot about the heart and determination that our guys have.”
Part of the impressive comeback was due to the play of Brue and sophomore Drake Bushong. The pair shot 220 and 223 and finished tied for eighth and 11th, respectively. Brue’s top 10 finish marked the fifth time in five fall tournaments he has done so, and he credits his success to his preparation and ball-striking.
“Making sure you’re physically ready for each tournament [is important],” Brue said. “I [also] worked really hard on my ball striking over the summer, and I think that really showed with some of my stats in terms of fairways in regulations and greens hit.”
Roche agreed that Brue’s ball-striking ability is his best attribute. Roche also noted that Bushong, who started the year off a bit shaky, returned to his freshman-year form and provided excellent performances.
With the fall season over, Brue said the team accomplished many of its goals but still didn’t totally play up to its potential. Roche said the team has the skills but needs to consistently have belief and confidence.
“One of the things I think we need to work on going forward is knowing we belong,” Roche said. “We need to know that we can compete with a wide number of teams in the country and have that quiet assurance as we go [into the spring].”
The women’s season was a little less decorated, but are still on their way to closing their season on a strong note. The Braves finished fifth out of 14 teams in the Rocket Classic after finishing sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preview the week prior.
“The course we played at was a great test,” head coach Mary Swanson said. “We had moments of greatness but if we can seize every opportunity, I think that will help us climb a few spots higher more regularly.”
Junior Ally Scaccia and freshman Taylor Ledwein led the Braves to an overall score of 930, 15 strokes off the champion. Scaccia and Ledwein tied for fourth with a score of 227, which was Scaccia’s first top 10 finish of the season and Ledwein’s third.
With only one tournament remaining this fall, Swanson said she wants the team to “compete well” and “not have any regrets going into the off season.”
As they look toward the spring, Swanson said they still have some work to do to keep up with the some of their Missouri Valley Conference foes.
“I am encouraged about where we stand relative to the other MVC schools,” Swanson said. “We are competitive but being a few strokes behind Wichita and SIU reminds us that we can’t stop working.”
Bradley will compete in Louisville, Kentucky at the Cardinal Cup Oct. 23.
