photo via Bradley University Marketing
The women’s team dominated the Bradley Spring Invitational at Weaver Ridge Golf Club over the weekend. Following the first day of competition, the women had a 14-shot advantage and continued that pace into the second day to win the tournament by 26 strokes.
Head coach Mary Swanson said practicing at Weaver Ridge was the reason for the team’s success this weekend.
“Obviously, the course knowledge for us is huge,” Swanson said. “There’s a lot of confidence going into a tournament like that because we have some insights that other teams don’t … We had very productive practices the week, week-and-a-half before out at Weaver [Ridge] to make sure that we practiced in the wind and the rain and the cold.”
Junior Ally Scaccia led Bradley and claimed medalist honors by two strokes as she scored a two-under 214. She finished her final round with a career-best three-under 69, which was the fourth-lowest round in school history.
Swanson noted Scaccia’s intangibles were the reason for her steady play this weekend.
“Her mindset. She’s been due, she’s been steadily getting better,” Swanson said. “She really just played confident and trusted herself and it certainly paid off.”
The Bradley men’s golf team had a record-setting day at the Hoosier Invitational this weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. The Braves fired a seven-under 277 in the second round, which was good enough for the school record by one shot.
Three men finished the round with sub-70 scores, including junior Matthew Specht’s 66, sophomore Drake Bushong’s 68 and junior Ethan Brue’s 69.
Following the hot start, the Braves started the second day in second place, seven shots behind Charlotte, looking to make a comeback. However, the men had difficulty duplicating that record-setting effort.
“We really just played comfortable and confident that first day and got into a nice rhythm,” head coach Jeff Roche said. “The second day, we just didn’t have that same confidence about ourselves. We tried a little too hard and really just didn’t let ourselves get into a rhythm like we should have.”
The men eventually slipped into third place to finish behind Charlotte and tournament-host Indiana. Bradley finished two shots behind the Hoosiers with an 861 after a final round 298.
The men will now travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to take part in the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday. The women have a week off before they will head to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship April 16-18.
