The men’s golf team is coming off a successful season in which they won four tournaments, and finished seventh at the Missouri Valley Conference championship. Three members of the team, seniors Daniel Lensing and Zach Jewell along with junior Drake Bushong continued to put their skills on display over the summer.
Head coach Jeff Roche said he requires his players to compete in multiple tournaments during the summer to maintain a competitive edge and keep their skills sharp.
“We set some goals and some things that they need to be working on,” Roche said. I don’t necessarily set a number of tournaments that they need to play but moreso the quality [of tournaments they play.]”
According to Roche, he focused on the quality of tournaments his players competed in to ensure that they maintained a high standard of competition.
Jewell claimed the 91st 2017 Peoria Men’s City Championship at Newman Golf Course and Bushong won the 82nd annual Pekin Men’s City golf title at Lick Creek Golf Course for the second consecutive year. Lensing, while in New York for an internship, captured the sixth annual Erie County Amateur at the Elma Meadows Golf Course.
In addition to his Pekin Men’s City golf title, Bushong also won the Chicago District Golf Association’s 98th Amateur Championship (CDGA), topping former Brave Michael Fastert (1999-2001) 3-and-2 in the 36-hole final at the Briar Ridge Country Club.
According to Bushong, his summer success gives him a mental advantage heading into the season.
“As far as confidence goes, heading into the season, it’s nice to already have a few wins under my belt,” Bushong said. “I know I played some good competition at the CDGA, so it’s nice to know I can win at an event where there were a lot of other really good players.”
Both of the events Bushong won were under match play rules. While the tournaments Bushong competes in for Bradley are under stroke play, demonstrating his ability to win multiple match play events attests to his competitiveness.
“Match play obviously differs in the way you score, but I still try and go into it with the same approach,” Bushong said. “In match play, you can have a bad hole and you just lose the hole, not like in match play where you make an eight and it absolutely kills you. That plays into my gameplay as well, because in match play, I can be a little more aggressive, but in stroke play, I have to do the best I can on each hole so I can post the best score.”
While Roche said he was already pleased with his team’s record from last year, after the strong showing from his players this summer, he is even more excited for the season to start.
“We had a good program last year, but those guys going out there and winning really validates what we’re doing as a program,” Roche said. “Obviously, it’s still a team effort and success is a culmination of a lot of hard work.”
While the team opens its 2017 Fall schedule Sept. 5 & 6 at the Crusader Classic in Chesterton, Ind., the top-five golfers have not yet been decided, as the players are still battling it out against each other on the course for the starting spots.
“We have another weekend of team qualifying to go. Right now, we have some guys who weren’t in the top five that are as of right now,” Roche said. “Our top-seven guys are only separated by seven shots so it’s nice to have such a deep team. I’ve seen a high percentage of competitiveness out of a lot of the guys, and they’re all pushing each other to become better.”
