Finishing its regular season slate, Bradley women’s golf placed ninth this past Tuesday in the Colonel Classic after a hot start positioned the Braves towards the top.
Even after cooling off a bit in the later rounds, Bradley placed three golfers in the top 30 of the final leaderboard.
The event began Monday and consisted of a 16-team field including Belmont and Illinois State. The Braves shot 294 in the first round, slotting them at third overall after the first day of action.
“I think we had a tale of two different days with the team,” head coach Halley Morell said. “That first round we were coming off the momentum from Georgia State… we were really solid in our mental process, taking one shot at a time. They were confident and we made a lot of birdies that first day.”
In the first 18 holes of play, junior Grace Aromando led the team with a score one-under-par 71. Fifth-year senior Megan Welch followed behind her with an even-par 72.
After the first round, Bradley cooled off only slightly in the second half of the day, shooting a 300 as sophomore Maria Perakis led the Braves with a score of three-over-par 74.
Taking a step backwards during the middle round, Tuesday saw the team struggling to grab a steady footing. Bradley shot a 312 in the final 18 holes which had them fall to ninth.
“The last round we kind of got away from our mental process a little bit,” Morell said. “Other than Maria [Perakis], people were thinking a little bit about being in contention and the outcome, which is easy to do but we’ve been working really hard on staying in the present moment all spring.
“So we just got too focused about the outcome and trying to win the tournament as opposed to just taking it one shot at a time and then letting the results happen,” Morell added.
For the third and final round, the conditions were worse than what the teams had seen in prior days with the wind feeling heavier, according to the golfers.
“It was a bit windier on the third day which made some of the approach shots a little bit tougher,” Perakis said.
Perakis ended the Colonel Classic leading the Braves’ charge, finishing tied for 15th overall with a score of 223.
“I was hitting the ball more solid I think as the tournament progressed. I hit it better the second round than the first first round and then [in] the third round I was hitting it the best that I did all three days,” Perakis said.
Rounding out the other finishers was Welch with a 25th place finish as she carded a 225, Aromando with a 226, freshman Allison Pacocha with a three-round total of 233 and senior Mara Flaherty who added a 235.
Next up for the Braves is the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which takes place from April 16-18.
[…] Source […]
[…] Source […]