The Bradley men’s golf team hoped to bounce back at the Dayton Flyer Invitational on Oct. 16 and 17, but shot 928 (+76) to finish in 13th place for the second tournament in a row.
In the first round of the tournament, hosted by the University of Dayton, the Braves shot 314 (+30) with sophomore Max Adams leading the team with a score of 76 (+5). Sophomore Connor Hamm was right behind him with a score of 77 (+6).
Freshman Carter Stevenson shot 79 (+8) and freshman Brody McCarthy shot 82 (+11) while fifth-year senior Nick Armbrust finished round one with a score of 85 (+14).
This put the Braves in a hole early, firmly placing them in last out of the 13 teams competing. They improved in their second round as the team shot 302 (+18), but they remained in the same place.
Hamm adjusted from the miscalculations he made in the first round to shoot a 71 (E) in the second round. Stevenson also made some necessary adjustments, shooting three-over-par. McCarthy improved from his first round score of 82 to shoot 78 in his second round but Adams struggled, shooting a 79 (+8). Armbrust improved from his score in round one by shooting an 80 (+9) to finish out the team’s first day of the tournament.
The Braves had a rough finish to the tournament with a similar day to the first, shooting a 312 (+28). Adams finished strong with a two-over-par to end tied for 66th place, leading the Braves with a total score of 228 (+15).
McCarthy continued to improve in round three with a 77 (+6), with each of his scores being better than the last. His performance put him in 75th place at 237 (+24).
Stevenson ended with an 80 (+9) in the third round to finish at 233 (+20), placing 73rd overall. Hamm struggled in his third round, shooting eleven-over-par to finish at 230 (+17) and leaving him in 71st place. Armbrust finished with an 86 (+15) to put him at 251 (+38) in 80th place.
Overall, the Braves could not climb out of last place after their rough round one start, putting them at 76 over par.
It was a difficult tournament for the Braves as they finished 43 strokes away from the 12th place team and 88 strokes away from the first place team, but there were improvements from the last tournament.
Adams showed progress by leading the Braves after previously finishing the lowest out of his teammates at the Derek Dolenc Invitational on Sept. 25-26. McCarthy proved that he is reliable, as he improved his score from each round to the next in each of the three tournaments he has competed in this season.
The Braves’ next competition will be at the Pinetree Intercollegiate on Oct. 23-24.
