NORMAL, Ill. – Junior Seth Trolia (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) tied a career-best with a two-under par 69 in the opening round and the Bradley men's golf team is tied for sixth after two rounds of play Sunday at the Weibring Intercollegiate.
Trolia is the leader in the clubhouse for the Braves heading into Monday's final round, finishing the day tied for eighth. He matched a career-best with a two-under par 69 at the par-71 Weibring Golf Club and followed it up with a second-round 74 to finish Sunday's action tied for eighth at 143. Trolia carded his second career sub-70 score and is the first Bradley individual since Zach Wanken (2006-07 through 2009-10) to fire two rounds during their BU career in the 60's.
Bradley got off to another strong start to the tournament, shooting an opening round 288 to tie for the fourth lowest round in school history. Despite playing just five rounds during the 2013-14 school year, the Braves have carded two of the four lowest team rounds in school history. Bradley led the field with the opening round 288, but slipped into a tie for sixth with in-state foe Western Illinois after a second round 299 to finish the first day of play.
Trolia enters Monday's final round one shot out of the top three and just three shots back of individual leader Austin Eoff of Purdue, who closed the day at two-under par 140. Freshman Bobby Jacobs (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) continued his strong play, turning in scores of 72 and 73 to finish Sunday two back of Trolia, tied for 13th at 145.
Senior Daniel Young (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) shot a season-best 73 in the afternoon on the heels of an opening round 75 and is tied for 29th overall at 148. Junior Danny Masrin (Palatine, Ill./Jakarta International School) opened play with a season-best one-over par 72 and is tied for 55th in the individual standings at 151 after a second-round 79. Senior Kyle Gunther (Dunlap, Ill./Peoria Christian) rounded out the individual scoring for the Braves with a pair of 80's and is tied 76th at 160.
Purdue and Arkansas-Little Rock are tied atop the crowded team standings with a two-round score of 579, while Missouri Valley Conference rivals Illinois State and Loyola are one shot off the lead in a tie for third at 580. Valley foe Evansville is just two shots back of the co-leaders in fifth (581), with Bradley and Western Illinois tied for sixth at 587.
Missouri State and Illinois Wesleyan are one shot behind the Braves in a tie for eighth (588) and Southern Illinois rounds out the top 10 at 590. Arkansas State sits in 11th at 36 holes with a score of 593, while the pairing of Oral Roberts and Northern Iowa are just 15 shots off the lead in a tie for 12th (594). SIU Edwardsville is 14th overall at 595 and Butler completes the field in 15th at 597 with 18 strokes separating the entire field.
The final round of the Weibring Intercollegiate is scheduled to tee off Monday at 8:45 a.m. in Normal, Ill. BradleyBraves.com will provide a link to live scoring for Monday's final round.
