Coming off their best finish this spring at the Redbird Invitational, hosted by Illinois State on April 9, the Bradley women’s golf team is hoping to take its momentum into the Missouri Valley Conference tournament next week at Greenbriar Hills Country Club in Missouri.
“We know the course at Weibring, and I feel that helped get our confidence back,” head coach Haley Morell said. “I saw a lot of good shots and a lot of positive things as we head to the conference tournament.”
The Braves were led by senior Megan Welch, who finished in third place at three-over-par and four strokes back of the medalist, Ali Schrock of Illinois State. It was Welch’s third top-10 finish of the year, a team best, and her fifth career top-10 outing.
Welch fired rounds of 74 and 73 in succession on the par-72 course, including five birdies in her second round 73. Using momentum off of rounds in previous weeks this spring, Welch was able to peak at the right time.
“I feel that I played really well this week,” Welch said. “A few weeks ago, I had some good rounds that gave me momentum coming into this event, which was really nice for my confidence. Last week was not the best showing, but to have the confidence coming into the tournament at a course we are comfortable with was great.”
Mother Nature has not been kind to spring sports, as what was supposed to be a two-day, 54-hole tournament turned into a one-day, 36-hole affair for the Braves. Morell prepared her team for that scenario going into the weekend.
“This was something we talked about on Thursday as we looked at the weather on Friday, which was not looking great,” Morell said. “The main message was that we have to be prepared to play and if we do play, everyone is playing in the same conditions, so get your mind ready to play on Friday, and if we don’t, then we can make adjustments from there.”
Bradley finished fourth out of nine teams in a field that included multiple MVC schools, such as Southern Illinois, Drake and the host Illinois State. Drake and Illinois State tied for first in the team totals at 19-over-par.
Senior Sarah Nacos played well enough for a top-20 finish, placing in 16th place at eight-over-par. The senior tied her career-low round, with a three-over-par 75 in the first round and posted her first top-20 finish of the year, a credit to managing the course well.
“I thought that I played very smart golf, as the conditions were not ideal,” Nacos said. “It was colder and much more windy than we would have liked, so I really felt that most of my shots were well-thought-out before I hit them.”
Junior Mara Flaherty carded rounds of 79 and 77 for a total score of 156. Her two rounds placed her four shots back of Nacos and in a tie for 24th.
Sophomore Harriet Barker shot consecutive rounds of 79 to tie for 29th in the tournament. Freshman Maria Perakis finished one shot behind Barker, after rounds of 82 and 77.
Freshman Kathryn McNease played as an individual for the Braves and scored rounds of 76 and 77. Her round of 76 tied for her lowest round since the fall. Senior Elyse Emerzian also played as an individual, and she carded rounds of 86 and 73. The 13-stroke improvement in the second round was a season best for Emerzian.
Bradley travels to Kirkwood, Missouri for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which starts on Sunday. Tee times begin at 10 a.m. for the 54-hole event.
