Bradley women’s golf finished with a respectable seventh place to start the spring season at the Rio Verde Invitational in Arizona. Every Brave scored a 74 or below in at least one of the three rounds on the course.
The first round was highlighted by sophomore Allison Pacocha, who tied her career low with a 71. In her first round back on the course, Pacocha outshot her entire fall season.
“Honestly, I kind of relaxed more between the fall and spring,” Pacocha said. “This allowed me to not overthink when I was on the course.”
Graduate student Mara Flaherty was one stroke behind Pacocha with a 72, followed by 76s from freshman Jillian Cosler and senior Grace Aromando. Junior Maria Perakis shot an 80.
The second round marked Bradley’s lowest score of the contest, with Cosler achieving a 70, another career low. Perakis was the next best with a 73, while Aromando was one behind with a 74. Flaherty shot a 75 and Pacocha finished with a 78.
For the third round, the Braves’ lowest score was a tie of 74 between Cosler and Aromando, similar to when they both had 76 in the first round. Pacocha was a stroke behind them with 75, Flaherty finished with 76 and Perakis ended with a 79.
Overall, Bradley tallied an 886. Cosler had the lowest invite score among the Braves with a 220.
“We did a lot of really good things at Rio, but we saw some things we need to continue to improve on and continue to work towards,” head coach Halley Morell said. “Everyone on the team contributed at least one round. I like that aspect that everyone kind of pitched in and it was a true team effort. I’m excited to see what we can do the rest of the spring.”
With the first tournament of the spring in the books, Morell hopes her team can repeat some of the first-place finishes they achieved in the fall, and she thinks they are capable of doing it.
“It’s a lot of what we’re continuing to do from the fall,” Morell said. “Trying to keep our mindset in a really good spot. I feel now that we’ve done it twice in the fall, this team believes that they can do it again.”
The Braves travel to Henderson, Nevada for the SDSU Jackrabbit Invite on March 11-12.
