Carter Stevenson walking across the fairway. Photo courtesy of Bradley Athletics.
After a few days of wet weather and multiple delays, Bradley men’s golf team finished the Wildcat Invitational in the middle of the pack.
Thanks to a final round where the team scored 291, the Braves came out of Manhattan, Kansas, with a respectable 908, tying Lindenwood for ninth place out of the 14 teams competing. The team has now finished in that spot at the Kansas State-hosted event two years in a row, placing ninth in 2024 as well.
Due to rain and wind, the start times for Monday and Tuesday were delayed by over two hours. The second round ended early after it became too dark to continue.
Bradley had two golfers in the top 40 and a third member of the team reaching the top 50. Junior Carter Stevenson tied for 19th, his 13th-place finish in the top 20 in a Braves uniform. Graduate student Weston Walker finished in 38th after a three-under-par third round, bumping him from 63rd to the top 40.
Stevenson’s performance resulted in two consecutive four-over-par rounds to start before finishing three strokes under par to finish at five-under-par. Walker’s first two rounds consisted of a six-over-par and eight-over-par score, giving him an eleven-over-par score overall after his three-under-par round three.
Freshman Joey Cerney placed in the top 50 in his first college golf meet, finishing 46th with a 12-over-par score. Freshman Brogan Smith and sophomore Tanner Leonard rounded out Bradley’s results, with Smith finishing in 57th at 16-over-par and Leonard taking 73rd out of 75 with a score of 51-over-par.
It was revealed on Thursday that two golfers from other schools were disqualified for signing incorrect scorecards, bumping everyone else up by one position, besides Leonard, who went from last place to 73rd.
Overall, Kansas State won the meet, finishing with a score of 835. Bradley’s Missouri Valley rival, Southern Illinois’ Anthony De Schutter, won the individual competition, scoring four-under-par over three rounds.
Bradley men’s golf next tee off on Sept. 15 at Creighton’s Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Nebraska, with the meet running through Tuesday.
