Bradley men’s golf competed this past weekend in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, hosted by South Alabama, finishing 10th out of 13 teams.
Despite finishing 10th, there were several bright spots for the Braves to build off of as the season continues.
Multiple personal records were broken during this outing. On Sunday, junior Max Adams completed round one in 70 strokes, or one-under-par, marking his season best. Adams finished the meet shooting 15-over-par across 54 holes, tying for 58th place among the 78 golfers who competed.
“Overall, there were plenty of positives,” head coach Jeff Roche said. “We did a better job of managing our games in the final round. Since that was the focus of our conversation after the second round, I was happy that we could carry that focus into the final round. If we prepare properly, both in the time leading up to the tournament and by using our time appropriately each morning of the tournament, our performance will reflect in a positive way.”
Bradley’s main man was sophomore Carter Stevenson, who finished with a two-under-par score overall. This included a stellar third round, where he set a new personal best by completing 18 holes in 66 strokes, one below his previous record of 67. This helped him finish in 12th place, the highest of any Braves player at the meet.
“I thought the tournament overall was fun,” Stevenson said. “Being down in Alabama with that kind of weather is really nice this time of year. The course was nice, and some of the pins made it relatively easy.”
Stevenson has been a bright spot for the team all season, and his coach was happy to see the sophomore have one of his best days on the course.
“Carter has played pretty solidly all year,” Roche said. “He was yet to have a breakout round, and it was nice for him to finally do that.”
The most promising aspect of Stevenson’s performance is that it came against nationally recognized opponents. Despite the level of competition, the sophomore was not phased.
“I typically don’t look at where teams are ranked,” Stevenson said. “I go to a tournament thinking that I’m going to beat everyone here, no matter how good you think you are.”
Other Bradley performances included sophomore Devin Reichard’s 54th-place finish with a score of 13-over-par, sophomore Brody McCarthy tied for 63rd, shooting 17 strokes over par, and freshman Tanner Leonard finished in 76th, shooting 24-over-par.
Ultimately, the Braves finished behind multiple large schools, including the hosts South Alabama, UCF, Valparaiso and Jacksonville State.
Bradley will hit the road to Indianapolis on Monday to compete in Butler’s Don Benbow Invitational. Bradley competed in this event last year, tying for fourth out of 14 teams, and is looking to improve on their scores next week.
“I think one of the most important parts about Butler is dialing in our wedges and being confident with the putters,” Stevenson said. “We struggled this last week with putting and short siding ourselves due to the pin locations. If we can just give ourselves a shot at the green and not be too aggressive, we should be perfectly fine.”
