Two seasons removed from a Missouri Valley Conference title, the Bradley men’s golf team finds itself focused on developing young talent.
The team had a rough start to the season, finishing in last place at the Crusader Collegiate with a 920-overall score. Head coach Jeff Roche is viewing the events of the tournament as a learning experience.
“It’s really not a failure if you look to learn from it and get better every week,” Roche said. “If you take one shot over time you can’t evaluate anything off one shot and you can’t really evaluate it off one tournament.“
Though the team improved its score in each round, Roche said there is still more to work on.
“I thought we did a decent job mentally but need to get our skill level up,” Roche said.
Junior Jalen Hodges, a transfer from Parkland College, stood out for the Braves this weekend as he shot a 5-over-par 221 to finish 30th overall in his first Division I tournament.
“With not knowing what to expect, I feel like it was a good week, but it could have been better,” Hodges said.
Other notable highlights include redshirt-senior and lone returnee Alex Ciaramitaro shooting a career-best 3-over-par 75 in the final round to earn a share of 60th overall at 230.
This season’s roster looks incredibly different than last season’s. Freshmen Nick Armbrust, Josh Kirkham, and John Stillman as well as Hodges are the four new faces this year in a roster of five. Roche is excited for their developments and believes that their skill levels will improve as they get a feel for the college game.
Normally these types of seasons are referred to as a rebuilding year. Roche said he is hesitant to refer to this season as such, instead calling it a “building year.”
With a roster that is also getting to know each other, Hodges and Roche both agree that the team’s chemistry is good and that everyone is pushing each other towards improvement.
While the expectations remain unclear, a specific goal of Roche’s is to consistently improve throughout the season. He urged fans to value patience.
“What we look like this tournament will be vastly different than what we look like as we move forward,” Roche said.
The Braves look to establish consistency as they return to action next Monday at the Derek Dolenc Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin.
