MACOMB, Ill. – Sophomore Matthew Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) earned his second top-10 finish of the year, finishing two shots off the lead in second and the Bradley men's golf team placed fourth in the field at the 44th annual Beu/Mussatto Invitational Saturday.
Specht wrapped up the best 54-hole tournament of his collegiate career by matching his second round 73 during Saturday's final round at the par-72 Harry Mussatto Golf Course. He took second in the field, matching par at 216 for the tournament to finish two shots behind individual medalist Jackson Bugdalski of Indian Hills Community College (214).
Senior Lyle Burns (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour/Parkland) joined Specht as one of three Braves to shoot one-over 73's on the final day of play. Burns, who tied for eighth at 221, carded his 28th sub-80 round of the year to join Dave Wettlaufer as the only individuals in program history to have two seasons with 28 or more rounds in the 70's or better. In addition, Burns joined Wettlaufer and Seth Trolia as the only players in Bradley history with 57 sub-80 rounds in a two-year span. The top-10 finish was the seventh of the year for Burns and his fourth consecutive top-10 showing.
Not to be outdone, freshman Drake Bushong (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) tied for low round honors for the day for Bradley by matching both Specht and Burns with a third-round 73. Bushong tied for 16th at 224, turning in his 30th sub-80 round of the year. He is now the fourth individual in program history with 30 rounds in the 70's or better in a season and his streak of 30 consecutive sub-80 rounds tied Danny Masrin for the second longest streak in Bradley history.
Senior Garrett Cox (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) tied for 35th overall at 235, finishing out the tournament with a 78, while junior Bobby Jacobs (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) improved his score each round and capped the event with a 75 Saturday to move into a tie for 37th (236).
Bradley tied for the third lowest team round Saturday at 294 and held on to fourth in the team standings. William Woods, which was the 2014-15 NAIA national runner-up, won the team title at 880 and tournament-host Western Illinois was second at 885. Two-time defending NJCAA national champion Indian Hills was six shots off the pace in third at 886, while Bradley followed in fourth at 892.
The Braves were 21 shots better than fifth-place Cardinal Stritch (913) and 23 ahead of Culver-Stockton (915), which rounded out the top half of the 12-team field in sixth.
Bradley returns to action April 25 & 26 at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship, which will be held at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
