KETTERING, Ohio – Senior Daniel Young (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) matched a career-best with a one-under par 69 to finish the day tied for fourth and the Bradley men's golf team is tied for second after 18 holes of action Monday at the Dayton Invitational.
The Braves got off to another strong start to a tournament, carding an eight-over par 288 at the par-70 NCR Country Club North Course to tie for the fifth lowest round in program history and finish the day tied for second in the team standings. Bradley will enter Tuesday's final round four shots back of leader Cleveland State (284) and in a three-way tie with Western Kentucky and Northern Kentucky, which both shot rounds of 288.
Young tied his career-low round to lead the Braves, firing a one-under par 69. He is tied for fourth overall, two shots behind individual leader Andrew Bailey of Cleveland State. Freshman Bobby Jacobs (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) was also impressive on the first day of play, turning in a one-over par 71 to match his season-best score. Jacobs is two shots back of Young in a tie for 12th.
Senior Kyle Gunther (Dunlap, Ill./Peoria Christian) is tied for 25th after he carded a 73 and junior Danny Masrin (Palatine, Ill./Jakarta International School) shot a 75 to close Monday's action tied for 46th. Junior Seth Trolia (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) rounded out the team scoring for Bradley with an opening-round 77 and is tied for 59th.
Eleven shots separate the top 10 teams in the field, with Cleveland State holding a four-shot advantage after a four-over par 284. The Braves are in the three-way tie with Western Kentucky and Northern Kentucky at 288, with the group owning a one-shot edge on fifth-place Evansville (289). Robert Morris is eight shots off the pace in sixth (292), while Youngstown State and Butler are tied for seventh at 293 to round out the top half of the tournament field.
Tournament-host Dayton is tied with Missouri Valley Conference foe Loyola for ninth (295) and Valparaiso shot 297 Monday to finish the day in 11th. Wright State is 12th at 300 going into the final round, with St. Bonaventure (13th – 302), IPFW (14th – 304), IUPUI (15th – 310) and Cincinnati State (16th – 312) completing the field, respectively.
The final round of the Dayton Invitational is scheduled to tee off Tuesday at 8 a.m. (CDT).
