One of the most important decisions in any person’s lifetime is choosing what they want to do with their life.
By the time English sophomore Max Adams was 16, he knew that he wanted to play golf at the professional level and continue his education in America.
After adding four new pieces to his team, Bradley men’s golf head coach Jeff Roche knew Adams was special.
“He had a great resume coming in, and I’m looking forward to having him with us for the next three years,” Roche said.
Hailing from Suffolk, England, Adams started his American journey in the south, where he played golf for Alabama State.
“Sports here are so much better than back home,” Adams said. “You get all the money behind it whereas in England it’s just something you do in your pastime.”
However, after a season with the Hornets had his Uber bills racking up, Adams was looking for the door.
“It was a different experience to what I expected it was going to be like,” Adams said. “I was having to fork out a lot [of money] on Ubers to get to the golf course and to practice each day because my teammates weren’t really wanting to practice.”
The scouting process was different for Adams once he hit the transfer portal. It started with a simple Google search looking for the best college golf programs. With Bradley on that list, the next step was reaching out to Roche.
“When we first spoke I felt a connection straight away,” Adams said. “From there I did some more research, saw Bradley academically and it just seemed like the perfect program to join.”
Roche ensured that he was bringing in someone with a good stat sheet who could also back it up with a good personality.
“One of the biggest things I was trying to figure out was whether he [Adams] was going to be a good fit for our team,” Roche said. “Golf presents adversity almost every shot, so you have to be able to persevere.”
After Roche and Adams’ initial conversation, Roche spoke with Adams’ swing coach and a couple of his instructors to gauge the type of player and person that Adams was.
“When you leave somewhere a lot of times people are leaving on a bad note,” Roche said. “I talked to his coach and they could say nothing but good things about his personality and that says a lot to me.”
That team dynamic was also very important for Adams, as he didn’t feel a deep connection with his Alabama State teammates.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve done everything as a team,” Adams said. “Whereas [in] Alabama we were separated into groups and never really united as a team.”
At Bradley, Adams has made that connection.
“He’ll come over and we’ll hang out and watch American football, which I think he’s not the biggest fan of,” fifth-year senior Nick Armbrust said as he exchanged a couple of laughs with Adams. “But we all just like to hang out and we’re all pretty laid back.”
Despite the struggles down south, Adams won two individual titles as a Hornet. Before his early collegiate success, Adams took home the Independent Association of Prep Schools U-18 championship.
“It was my first big event,” Adams said. “I fell in love with competing straight away so I didn’t feel out of place.”
So far, Adams has played two tournaments with the Braves this season, where he tied for 40th (Valpo Fall Invitational) and 82nd (Derek Dolenc Invitational). Although his performances haven’t been ideal, Adams’ work ethic can’t be denied.
“He’s a grinder on and off the golf course,” Armbrust said. “One of our first tournaments he woke up at 3 a.m. to study for a math test so that’ll tell you everything.”
The sophomore understands that there is still a long way to go if he wants to accomplish his goal of winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship later in the fall. For his head coach, he believes that there’s more to come for the English international.
“We haven’t seen the best yet, but it’s coming,” Roche said.
