Women’s Golf Set for Diane Daugherty Invitational

Josh Schwam

Live Scoring

Women's Golf 3/25/2022 11:00:00 AM

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley Women's Golf hits the halfway point of the 2022 Spring season next week with the Braves heading to St. Charles, Mo., for the Diane Daugherty Invitational, which will be hosted by Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois Monday and Tuesday at the par-71 Bogey Hills Country Club.

The Diane Daugherty Invitational will serve as a preview for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which is just three weeks away, with nine of the 10 Valley teams in the 16-team field. The lone MVC team not scheduled to compete next week in St. Charles, Mo., is Evansville. The tournament will also include former Valley rival Creighton and future MVC opponent Belmont, in addition to Austin Peay, Ball State, Omaha, South Dakota and Western Michigan.

Play gets underway Monday morning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start to the opening two rounds. The tournament wraps up Tuesday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start to the final round. BradleyBraves.com will provide links to live scoring for all three rounds of the Diane Daugherty Invite.

Bradley returns to the Diane Daugherty Invitational for the second straight year, with the Braves taking part in last year's tournament which was held at Greenbriar Hills Country Club in Kirkwood, Mo., which will serve as the site for this year's MVC Championship in a few weeks. Bradley finished fourth of 16 teams at last year's Diane Daugherty Invitational with former BU standout Taylor Ledwein claiming medalist honors at last spring's tournament.

Freshman Maria Perakis has paced Bradley in four of seven tournaments this season, including last time out at the Jackrabbit Invitational in Boulder City, Nev. She owns a team-best 75.10 stroke average, which ranks seventh in the MVC and is the only freshman to rank in the top 20 in the Valley in stroke average in 2021-22. Her average would rank fifth among Bradley season marks.

Senior Megan Welch tied for 27th at last year's Diane Daugherty Invitational and has been Bradley's top performer in three tournaments this season. Her streak of consecutive sub-80 rounds of 21 is the sixth longest in school history and she now owns the fifth-best career stroke average in program history at 77.70. Welch is ninth in the MVC this season with a 75.29 stroke average.

Junior Mara Flaherty is one of three Braves returning to the Diane Daugherty Invitational, tying for 18th at the event last spring. Flaherty is also one of three individuals to play in all seven tournaments for Bradley in 2021-22. She matched the low round of her career with a second-round 72 at the Jackrabbit Invitational earlier this month and is currently 14th in the MVC with a career-best 76.67 stroke average.

Sophomore Harriet Barker will appear in the Bradley lineup for the second straight tournament after making her season debut last time out at the Jackrabbit Invitational. Missing the entire fall season with an injury, Barker was Bradley's second-best individual at the Jackrabbit Invite, tying for 45th in her season debut.

Fellow sophomore Vaijayanti Bharkhada will appear in the Bradley lineup for the first time since the Little Rock Golf Classic to wrap up the 2021 fall slate. Bharkhada has played in 12 rounds this season, but will be playing as part of the team lineup for just the second time in 2021-22.

Freshman Kathryn McNease will play in the field as an individual and joins Perakis as one of just three freshmen to rank in the top 25 in the MVC in stroke average this year. McNease did not compete at the Jackrabbit Invite, but has played in six of seven events this season and her 77.44 stroke average is second among Valley freshmen.

Bradley follows up the Diane Daugherty Invitational with its final outing before the MVC Championship (April 17-19) with the Braves returning to Normal, Ill., for the Redbird Spring Invitational, which will be held April 8 & 9 at Illinois State's Weibring Golf Club.

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