MACOMB, Ill. – The Bradley men's golf team battled windy conditions to match its lowest round of the spring with a first-round 299 and followed it up with a 310 in the afternoon as the Braves lead the field after 36 holes at the 42nd annual Beu Mussatto Invitational Monday.
Bradley will enter Tuesday's final round with a four-shot lead on the field, finishing the day with a two-round total of 609. South Dakota is second at 613, while IUPUI is third in the standings at 615.
Senior Kyle Gunther (Dunlap, Ill./Peoria Christian) tied for low-round honors of the day for Bradley, firing his lowest round of the spring with a 72 in the second round at the par-72 Harry Mussatto Golf Course. Gunther's 72 came after a morning round 79 and he is fifth overall at 151, six shots back of individual leader Samuel Matthew of South Dakota (145).
Junior Danny Masrin (Palatine, Ill./Jakarta International School) turned in a pair of 76's on the first day of play and is one shot behind Gunther in a tie for sixth. Sophomore Alex Shane (Morton, Ill./Morton/Illinois Central College) is also tied for sixth at 152, carding a one-over 73 in the first round and a second-round 79.
Junior Seth Trolia (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) was second in the field after shooting a 72 in the first round to extend his streak of consecutive sub-80 rounds to 28, but shot 85 in the second round and is tied for 23rd overall at 157. Trolia's 28 consecutive rounds in the 70's or better tied for the third longest stretch in program history and was the best by a Brave since Scott Phegley had 28 consecutive sub-80 rounds between the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
Senior Daniel Young (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) moved into the top 10 in school history with his 69th career round in the 70's or better with a first-round 78. He is 46th overall at 161 after an 83 in the afternoon.
The Braves are nine shots ahead of fourth-place Valparaiso (618) and 11 shots better than fifth-place South Dakota State (620). Indian Hills Community College follows in sixth (621), while North Dakota State (625) closed the day in seventh. Tournament-host Western Illinois finished the day in eighth at 627 and Chicago State is ninth overall at 634. Western Illinois-Gold completed the top 10 at 638 with Green Bay (11th – 643), St. Francis (12th – 662) and St. Ambrose (13th – 667) rounding out the field, respectively.
Bradley closes out action at the Beu Mussatto Invitational Tuesday with one round of playing, beginning at 8 a.m.
