PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley men's golf team continues its busiest stretch of the 2015-16 season this weekend by making the trip to Bloomington, Ind., for the Hoosier Invitational. This weekend's tournament marks the second of four consecutive weekends of competition for the Braves.
On the heels of a strong performance at the I-74 Individual Challenge in Normal, Ill., Saturday, which saw senior Lyle Burns (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour/Parkland C.C.) and freshman Drake Bushong (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) tie for individual medalist honors, Bradley will return to the Hoosier Invitational for the second straight year. The Braves tied for seventh in the 17-team field last spring. Bradley had four of the top eight finishers at last week's I-74 Individual Challenge.
Joining Bradley in the 14-team field will be Missouri Valley Conference rivals Drake, Evansville and Illinois State along with Big Ten Conference foe and tournament-host Indiana. The event also includes Detroit, Eastern Kentucky, George Washington, IPFW, IUPUI, Oakland, Ohio, Western Illinois and Youngstown State.
Live scoring will be available at BradleyBraves.com with play getting underway Saturday at 7:30 a.m. (CDT). Following Saturday's 36 holes, the teams will play a single round Sunday with an 8:15 a.m. (CDT) shotgun start at the par-71 Indiana University Golf Course.
Bushong earned his second medalist honor of the year at I-74 Challenge and has finished in the top two in each of the last two outings. His team-best 22 sub-80 rounds this season is the second best total by a Bradley freshman behind Seth Trolia's freshman school record of 26 set in 2011-12.
Burns tied for 17th at last year's Hoosier Invitational, recovering from an opening round 79 to shoot matching two-under 69's in the final two rounds. He has shot 72 or better in each of his last three rounds and the two-year letterwinner is one sub-80 round from becoming the 28th player in program history with 50 career rounds in the 70's or better. Burns would be just the eighth player in Bradley history to fire 50 or more sub-80 rounds in a two-year period.
Junior Bobby Jacobs (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) matched a season-best with a 72 at Illinois State Saturday and has played in each of four outings this spring. Fellow Indiana native Matthew Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) carded a two-over 73 to match a spring low round Saturday and will play at the Hoosier Invitational for the second straight spring. Specht had his best outing of the 2015 spring season at the Hoosier Invitational (228) and shot a 72 in last year's tournament opening round.
Senior Garrett Cox (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) also turned in his lowest round of the spring at the Weibring Golf Club Saturday and is one of three Braves to previously play at the Hoosier Invitational. Cox is the most experienced player on the Bradley roster, having played in 63 career rounds.
Following the Hoosier Invitational, the Braves will host the Bradley Invitational April 10 & 11 at WeaverRidge Golf Club.
