Battling strong winds and various hazards, Bradley women’s golf turned out an eighth place finish in the 15-team field at the HCU Huskie Invite in Houston, Texas.
Braves’ head coach Halley Morell noticed early that the course at Riverbend Country Club was going to be a test that her team needed to swing past.
“Comparing the first two tournaments we had so far this year, [this one] was very different than [the] Rio [Verde Invitational],” Morell said. “The golf course was a lot more difficult, there was a lot more water, a lot more hazards you could get into and the conditions were a lot more difficult as well. It was much windier than it is out in Arizona.”
The wind bearing down on the team caused them to struggle more than they would’ve preferred.
“We made a lot of big numbers meaning more than a double or even more than a bogey,” Morell said. “[The tough part was] figuring out how to limit those big numbers in the round because you can make a couple of bogeys [and] you can even make a double in the round and still be able to put a good score together. If we start taking multiple [double or triple bogeys]or another big number where we’re hitting it out of play, that’ll hurt your score.”
Bradley was able to secure two top-20 finishes with freshman Allison Pacocha finishing tied for 14th and fifth-year senior Megan Welch finishing tied for 19th. Pacocha finished with a 12-over-par 228 on the weekend, carding rounds of 78, 74 and 76. Welch meanwhile finished just one stroke behind by shooting 73, 76, and 80 on the par-72 course.
“Megan [Welch] and Allison [Pacocha] played very well, Megan didn’t finish how she wanted to but they were just really solid, especially in some really difficult conditions,” Morell said. “They hit the ball pretty straight and that helped them on a tough golf course but they putted pretty well and just played well in some hard conditions. Allison [Pacocha] had her second top-15 of the year as a freshman so that was pretty exciting to see from her.”
As the tournament continued, the team further adjusted to the gusting winds and the general difficulty of the course.
“Each day I saw the players learn to handle that wind better,” Morell said. “They were being tested more where they were making more bogeys and making more mistakes and so how they were handling themselves mentally on a more difficult golf course in [tough] conditions [was important].”
The Braves get back in action when they travel down to the Georgia State Invitational which begins Monday. Morell and the team hope the difficult Texas course can work in their favor on an easier course in Georgia.
“We addressed a lot of different situations that we saw out in Texas that we’re going to continue to work on and improve if we can just limit those big numbers,” Morell said. “The course looks really nice in Georgia [and] we’ve never been there so that’ll be a new experience for them.”
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