As the final putt fell into the cup to finish the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, Bradley men’s golf’s season came to a close.
The team placed eighth out of 10 teams at the MVC tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, concluding their season with another low finish that plagued them throughout the spring.
Despite the poor team finish, the Braves had a few standout individual performances at the conference tournament, as sophomores Carter Stevenson and Brody McCarthy both placed inside the top 20.
Stevenson finished in eighth place at the tournament, shooting one-under-par throughout the three-round event. He performed well on Monday and entered the final round three-under-par and inside the top five. He shot two-over-par in his final round, though, dropping a few spots. Still, it was another strong performance from the standout sophomore, and he looks to continue improving going into next fall.
“I would say I am content with the results of this season,” Stevenson said. “That being said, I’m a little disappointed in myself for the final round of competition at conference. I gave myself an opportunity to compete for a title, and I wasn’t mentally prepared enough to finish the job.”
Stevenson’s quest to avenge his final round may come later than he had originally anticipated.
“This offseason, I am having hip surgery, which is going to prohibit me from practicing for a number of months,” Stevenson said. “The hope is to make a return to practice around mid-September and join the team whenever I am healthy enough.”
McCarthy remained relatively consistent throughout the event, placing 16th while shooting three-over-par on the event. He saved his best round for last, shooting even-par and tying for Bradley’s best performance of the day.
“It was a very solid way to end the year for both Carter and Brody,” head coach Jeff Roche said. “They should be able to see their potential, and I hope that they will use the experience towards their future growth as a player.”
Freshman Tanner Leonard, sophomore Devin Reichard and junior Max Adams all placed close together on the tournament’s leaderboard. Leonard did not have a good start, shooting six-over-par and eight-over-par in the first two rounds.
However, he shot even-par on the last round, tying with McCarthy and ending his season on a positive note as he seeks to improve in the fall. He finished in 43rd place, shooting 14-over-par.
Reichard placed 45th, just two strokes behind Leonard, at 16-over-par. His start to the tournament was also not great, as he shot seven-over-par and six-over-par on the first day, but improved to just three-over-par in the final round to end his season.
Adams rounded out the Braves, placing 47th overall, shooting 22-over-par. He had a strong performance in round two, shooting just one-over-par, but he struggled to maintain that form on the final day.
With the season now over, Bradley heads into the offseason looking to build off the positives. They will return to action in the fall, looking to repeat last year’s performances when they had two top-five finishes in the first half of the season.
“We were definitely showing some improvements as the season went on, but I think we need to make sure that we put ourselves in competitive positions this summer,” Roche said. “We need to build our mental toughness as we put ourselves in a position to win.”
