After taking a winter break, both the men and women’s golf teams sprung into spring action this weekend. The women headed to the Rio Verde Invite and took fifth out of 16, while the men placed eighth out of 16 teams at the Colin Montgomerie Invite in Spring, Texas.
The men found themselves in a tie for 12th after an opening round tally of 306. They fought back into the middle of the standings after shaving 13 strokes for a second round total of 296. Thunderstorms in the area forced the third and final round to be canceled.
“We kind of had to use that first round to get back into it,” men’s head coach Jeff Roche said. “Some of our guys played once or twice on break, but we really haven’t played since November.”
Senior Branden Mounce was the highest finisher for the Braves, posting a 4-over-par 148 to tie for 24th.
The women found themselves in a similar predicament after their first round, landing in 10th place after shooting an opening round of 306. They cut six strokes off their score in the second and final round, propelling them towards a fifth-place finish.
Senior Frankie Saban and junior Taylor Ledwein led the Braves with second and third overall weekend finishes, respectively. After recording a 75 in the first round, Ledwein bounced back to turn in the only sub-par performance for the Braves in the second round, carding a 1-under-par 70.
Saban handed in back-to-back rounds of 1-over-par 72 beating Ledwein by one stroke to take second place, falling two strokes short of first. For her efforts in the tournament, Saban was named Missouri Valley Conference Golfer of the Week.
The men’s team will compete again on March 11 and 12 at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate in Springfield, Missouri. The women will head to the Babs Steffens Hatter Collegiate on March 24 and 25 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
