Bradley University Athletics

Women’s Golf Set For Jan Weaver Invitational

Barathwaj Rudraboina

Women's Golf 4/4/2018 11:30:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Another schedule change for Bradley Women's Golf will have the Braves returning to the Blue Grass State, with Bradley taking part in the Jan Weaver Invitational in Murray, Ky., Friday and Saturday in the team's final tournament before the Missouri Valley Conference Championship later this month.

Bradley had originally planned to face Iowa in a duel Saturday and Sunday in Burlington, Iowa, but the event has been cancelled and the Braves will instead travel to the state of Kentucky for the second time in 2017-18 to take part in the Jan Weaver Invitational.

Play at the par-72 Miller Memorial Golf Course gets underway Friday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start for the opening two rounds. Saturday's final round will also feature an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

The 14-team field includes Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois. Central Arkansas is the highest rated team in the tournament, checking in at #95 in the latest Golfweek.com ratings. The field also includes Alabama State, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Belmont, Drury, Jacksonville State, Lipscomb, Louisiana-Monroe, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State in addition to tournament-host Murray State.

The Jan Weaver Invitational will be Bradley's final tune-up for the 2018 MVC Championship, which will be held April 15-17 in Newton, Kan.

Sophomore Taylor Ledwein has been Bradley's top finisher in all three spring tournaments and four of the last five outings dating back to the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in Lexington, Ky., back in early October. Ledwein owns a 76.44 stroke average this spring and boasts the sixth lowest stroke average in the MVC this season at 76.38 per round.

Senior Ally Scaccia heads into the weekend second in school history with 118 career rounds played and needs three rounds to break Danielle Lemek's school record of 120 rounds played. Bradley's top finisher in four of the first five tournaments of 2017-18, Scaccia is fourth in the MVC in stroke average and her team-best 76.17 average this year would rank ninth among Bradley season marks.

Junior Frankie Saban has been one of the most consistent Braves in 2017-18 and is the only player to finish among Bradley's top three in the lineup in every tournament this season. Saban's season stroke average of 76.63, which is seventh in the MVC, is nearly three strokes better than her career average entering the year.

Fellow junior Brooke Thompson played in the Bradley Spring Break Invitational as an individual and was the top performer for the Braves, tying for 22nd overall. Thompson has lowered her career stroke average by nearly two shots this season and her season average of 77.13 is tied for 10th in the Valley.

The 2018 MVC Championship will be played April 15-17 at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kan.

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