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Men’s golf tees off at Crusader Collegiate

Senior Ethan Brue fired scores of 71, 74 and 71 at Sand Creek Country Club.
photo via Bradleybraves.com

The Bradley mens golf team kicked off the 2017 campaign with a bang. After a disappointing seventh-place finish at the Missouri Valley Conference championship, the Braves focused on their new season as they teed it up at the Crusader Collegiate.

Bradley turned in a team score of 918, good enough for second at the rainy and gusty Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Ind.

Senior Ethan Brue defended his title, winning the event for a second straight year. Brue fired scores of 74, 71 and 74 for a total score of 219; good enough to claim medalist honors by two strokes. Head coach Jim Roche said he is impressed with how Brue continues to improve.

In my opinion, he actually played better this year than last, Roche said. Ive just seen so much improvement from [his] hard work this summer, and hes only going to get better.

Brues victory was the fourth of his career, tying the Bradley record set by recent alum Lyle Burns. Impressive, nonetheless, for Brue who is just entering his second season with the Braves.

Brue was not the only Brave who performed well at the tournament. Junior Michael Mounce and senior Matthew Specht each posted scores of 224 to finish tied for third.

Despite the adverse weather conditions. Roche said he was proud of his teams determination.

We have a saying, control the controllable, Roche said. Your score and the outcome [are something] you cant really do much about, but you can take care of whats going on in you.

The Braves were scheduled to attend the Golfweek Program Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., however, the tournament was canceled due to Hurricane Irma. Roche said the team views this opportunity as a chance to continue to improve on their fundamentals.

Were going to train. Its still early enough in the year we need to keep getting out and getting reps for our next tournament, Roche said.

Those reps will be crucial as Bradley hopes to carry their momentum from this tournament into the rest of the season. The Braves will be back in action next Sept. 25 at the Derek Dolnec Invitational.

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