Fifth-year senior Megan Welch and the Bradley women’s golf team have been patiently waiting for another season on the course. After finishing fourth at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last year, the group is ready to climb the ranks this time around.
“I really think the sky’s the limit,” Braves head coach Halley Morell said. “I don’t see a reason why we can’t be a top 100 program if we keep striving in the right direction.”
The anticipation on the Hilltop is backed up by the returning lineup this fall. The Braves’ top four finishers at the MVC Championship last spring all return. That group, plus juniors Harriet Barker and junior college transfer Grace Aromando, adds to a team that also includes talented freshman Allison Pacocha.
“I think our team meshes really well together,” Welch said. “Allison has played so much competitive golf growing up and Grace [comes] from one of the top junior colleges in the country.”
Aromando joins the Braves after helping her team win back-to-back national championships at NJCAA Seminole State in Florida. Her 2021-22 stroke average of 76.38 would have placed her second on the Braves last year, only behind Welch.
Beginning her fourth year at the helm, Morell is excited to see how high the ceiling is for this group.
“I think the expectations and the excitement [are] really high because not only did we return most of our starters, but the two new ones that we brought in are playing really well,” Morell said.
Pacocha makes her way to campus after a standout career at nearby Eureka High School, where she won the Illinois High School Association Class A individual state championship as a sophomore.
Senior Mara Flaherty and junior Harriet Barker join sophomores Kathryn McNease and Maria Perakis in rounding out the Braves roster. Perakis finished second on the team last year behind Welch with a 76.52 stroke average while Flaherty returns a 77.86 average. Both should expect a spot in the top five, with Barker and McNease as strong options for Morell.
For the Braves to capitalize on their talent, they’ll have to start strong. Last year, the team finished 5th of 12 at the Redbird Invitational, their season-opening tournament hosted by Illinois State at Weibring Golf Course. It was their lowest 54-hole team score all season (897) and the lowest for Bradley in two years.
“We just finished qualifying, and Grace will play in our one spot and Allison at the five,” Morell said. “We seem to like [Weibring] and always seem to play well there. Allison knows the course well, so Grace will be the only one without any course familiarity.”
Perhaps hoping for some déjà vu, the Braves will tee off this season again in Normal at the Redbird Invitational on Sept. 11. After that, they’ll travel to Pennsylvania and Missouri for invitationals hosted by Penn State and Missouri, respectively.
The Braves will return to Peoria for the annual Bradley Coyote Creek Classic on Oct. 8 in Bartonville before heading out to Hollister, Missouri for the Ozarks National Invitational, which will conclude the fall season.
Morell’s group will return in February for four tournaments and will eventually make their way back to the MVC Championship on April 16. There, Welch and the Braves will hope that the season was kind to them and that the Hilltop will welcome them back as champions of the MVC, with perhaps an NCAA Regionals appearance to their name.
“We have seven girls on the team that want to win, that can win, and can be a part of the team,” Welch said. “I didn’t come back for a fifth year to lose.”
