Bradley women’s golf secured a fourth place finish and two golfers took home conference honors at the Missouri Valley Championship in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Senior Megan Welch was the top finisher for the Braves, finishing at 16-over-par 229 to tie for eighth, just four shots back of first and one shot away from a four-way tie for fourth. Highlighted by a four-over-par 75 in the final round, Welch finished in the top-10 for the fourth time this year and earned All-MVC honors.
Freshmen Kathryn McNease and Maria Perakis saved some of their best golf for last, tying for 21st and 26th respectively. Perakis, who shot a 241 through the three-day competition, finished the season with a 76.52 stroke average, the lowest among Valley freshmen and the third-lowest mark in program history.
Perakis was tabbed MVC Newcomer of the Year, the first Brave to win the award since Taylor Ledwein in 2017, and she was excited to hear her name called.
“Even though things got kind of difficult towards the end, it was still a way to realize the work I put in the fall and throughout the entire year was being recognized,” Perakis said.
After tying for seventh after the first 18 holes, the Braves moved up to sixth after day two, thanks in part to a 78 from Perakis. Despite the cold and windy conditions, she was able to turn in her best round of the tournament after getting through the anxiety of the first day.
“In the second round, I had a lot better course management,” Perakis said. “[On the] first day, I had a little bit of nerves [that] I was getting over and made some mistakes that I was able to avoid on the second round. [I was] just getting more comfortable with my swing and getting more comfortable in that competitive environment.”
Head coach Halley Morell also attributed the slow start to nervous energy, but the team put up their best round on the third day to climb into fourth when all was said and done.
“I just think it was a case of a little bit of nerves that first day,” Morell said. “Once they got into the round, got more familiar and realized, ‘It’s just another golf tournament,’ that’s when I think they started to play more like themselves.”
The par-71 Greenbriar Hills Country Club proved to be a difficult course for the entire field, as there were many high scores, even among the top finishers. No golfer had a round at or below par and Morell thinks the toughest aspect for the golfers was their short game.
“The biggest thing with that golf course is the greens,” Morell said. “The greens are very fast and extremely undulated and sloped. You could even be on the green and have very difficult putts for birdie and par. That was the most difficult part of the course.”
For Perakis, knowing the difficulty of the course meant every shot mattered.
“Every par you made, you knew that was a good thing against the rest of the field because that course did not play easy,” Perakis said.
Wrapping up her third year as head coach, Morell looks forward to the future after the Braves’ highest finish at the MVC Championship during her tenure.
“The whole team worked really hard,” Morell said. “[There is] a lot of good things to take away from the year [and] I just think the sky’s the limit. To have our best two finishes in these last two events of the spring was really exciting.”
Another great column, Mason. Golf looks like a fun sport, as long as the weather is decent. But that’s true of any sport I guess.