Jeff Roche is entering his 21st year as head coach of the Bradley men’s golf program and the 2017-18 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year is certainly no stranger to The Hilltop. Roche had served as a volunteer assistant for both the Bradley men’s and women’s golf programs since 1998 before taking over the head coaching duties of the men’s team for the 2005-06 campaign and the 2025-26 school year will mark his 26th season overall with Bradley Athletics.
During his time as the men’s golf coach, the Braves have produced 13 all-conference performers, 17 First-Team MVC Scholar-Athletes, five CoSIDA All-District V honorees and a trio of CoSIDA Academic-America selections. In fact, Bradley men’s golf boasts more Academic All-Americans (3) than the other Missouri Valley Conference men’s golf programs combined (2). Bradley had not produced a First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete in men’s golf since the 1998-99 season prior to Zach Wanken earning the honors in 2007-08 and Wanken along with 2010-11 Charles Orsborn Award Winner Coby Thompson are the only three-time Valley Scholar-Athlete selections in the history of the program.
The 2024-25 season, Roche's 20th season as head coach, saw two golfers lead the team throughout the season and a new All-Conference golfer emerge. Junior Connor Hamm, who averaged 70 strokes per round in four tournaments, earned medalist honors twice, winning the Dolenc Invitational and Zach Johnson Invitational in September. The team shot its lowest tournament score in program history at the Dolenc Invitational, carding 846 to break the previous program record of 858. After Hamm's departure during the winter break, sophomore Carter Stevenson led the Braves in numerous categories. Most notably, Stevenson broke the program record for lowest single-season stroke average, averaging 71.89 strokes/round. He also finished in 20th or better seven times in nine tournaments, finished no lower than 28th during the season. Stevenson ultimately earned an All-Missouri Valley Conference selection for the first time in his career.
Featuring a roster including three freshman and two sophomores in 2023-24, the Braves began the season with a third-place finish at Valparaiso's Fall Invitational and placed fourth in a truncated Butler Spring Invitational. A team score of 869 at SIUE's Dolenc Invitational in Madison, Ill., ranks one of the top tournament scores in program history. Carter Stevenson registered four top-10 finishes during his freshman season, including three consecutive at the season's end. He led the team in stroke average, averaging 73.35 strokes/round.
With a team comprising of six upperclassmen and one freshman, the 2022-23 season saw the Braves steadily improve throughout the season, culminating in a fourth-place finish at the MVC Championship. The team scored 858 at the conference championship in Coal Valley, Ill., setting a new program record. Senior Josh Kirkham set a new program record for single-season scoring average, averaging 72.09 strokes per round. Adding six top-10 finishes and three finishes of 11-20th saw Kirkham earn All-Missouri Valley Conference honors for the first and only time of his career.
In 2021-22, Bradley had a late-season surge that included two of the top-11 36-hole team scores in program history in back-to-back outings at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate (595) and Butler Spring Invitational (598) in late March. Josh Kirkham helped highlight the season, by pacing the Braves in each of the first nine tournaments and closing the season with the 11th-best season stroke average (74.07) in school history. Kirkham had four rounds in the 60’s during his junior campaign, including a career-best 67 in the final round of the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate which was one shot from matching the school record.
Featuring a young roster in 2020-21, the Braves improved throughout the year and went on to finish sixth at the MVC Championship. The highlight of the season came at the Murray State Invitational, where the Braves finished eighth in the 15-team field with a three-round total of 886 for the team’s best 54-hole score since October 2018. Alex Ciaramitaro, who led the team in stroke average for the second straight year (74.93), tied for 10th at the MVC Championship to lead BU.
The 2019-20 campaign had a roster which featured four freshmen and a junior college transfer to go with former soccer letterwinner Ciaramitaro for his first full season with the men’s golf program. Ciaramitaro posted the 17th lowest season stroke average in Bradley history (74.71) and the Braves ended the abbreviated year with a season-best fourth-place finish at the Grover Page Classic.
In 2018-19, the Braves improved their stroke average for the fourth consecutive year, boasting the lowest average per round in program history (293). Bradley won a pair of team titles, in addition to finishing fourth at the 2019 MVC Championship. Drake Bushong wrapped up his time on The Hilltop as the only four-time All-MVC performer in program history and eighth in league history.
The 2017-18 will go down as the most successful team in program history, highlighted by sweeping the team and individual titles at the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championship in addition to making the first NCAA post-season appearance since the 1955 NCAA Championship. The Braves won their first Valley team title by 15 strokes at Dalhousie Country Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Bradley became the first team to have the top three individuals in the standings at the league championship since Wichita State in 2013. Pacing the group was Bushong, who posted a one-over par 217 to win the medalist title by three strokes and become just the third individual in program history to win a MVC individual title (Dave Wettlaufer – 1985 & 1984; Bo Togikawa – 1951).
For the first time in program history, Bradley had three individuals earn All-MVC honors as senior Ethan Brue and junior Michael Mounce joined Bushong among the league honorees. Bushong became the first three-time All-MVC selection in program history and Brue earned the honor for the second consecutive year, while Mounce also took home the MVC Elite 17 Award. Mounce and Bushong also highlighted the Valley Scholar-Athlete team, with senior Zach Jewell joining the duo as First-Team MVC Scholar-Athletes as Bradley became the first team since 2012 to boast three First-Team Valley Scholar-Athletes. Jewell went on to be named a Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017-18 in addition to capturing Academic All-Region honors.
The 2017-18 season included a pair of team victories, with Bradley defending its team title at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate in Springfield, Mo., in addition to claiming Valley title. The Braves had a pair of runner-up showings and finished in the top three in five of 10 outings this past season. Brue won a pair of medalist titles and went on to finish his two-year on The Hilltop with the best career stroke average (73.31) in school history. As a team, Bradley carded the first under-par 54-hole team score in program history with a five-under 859 to take second at the Houston Baptist Invitational in Spring, Texas, in the first outing of the 2018 Spring schedule and posted three of the lowest six 54-hole scores all-time at BU. The Braves also posted five of the 14 lowest team rounds in school history in 2017-18.
For the second consecutive year, Bradley had a pair of First-Team All-MVC performers in 2016-17 with Bushong and Brue both earning the distinction. The Braves opened the 2016-17 campaign by winning the Crusader Collegiate and went on to win three more tournament titles as Bradley won four team events in the same school year for the first time since 1967-68. As a team, the Braves carded the two lowest team rounds in program history, highlighted by a school-record low 277 at the Hoosier Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. In fact, Bradley fired a program-best 858 to win the Bradley Spring Break Invitational at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas.
Individually, Brue led the team with a 73.43 stroke average for the fifth lowest season average at Bradley and claimed three individual titles, while Bushong’s 73.91 stroke average ranks sixth among school season marks. Bushong carded a school season record 34 sub-80 rounds and was a First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete along with Third-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American Bobby Jacobs.
A highly successful 2015-16 campaign was capped by senior Lyle Burns and Bushong both earning All-Missouri Valley Conference honors as the Braves had two all-conference honorees for the first time since 1985-86. Both individuals broke the Bradley season stroke average mark, with Bushong averaging 73.03 per round, while Burns was one shot behind at 73.06 per round. A 2016 Charles Orsborn Award finalist, Burns had eight top-10 finishes and wrapped up his career with the lowest career stroke average (73.79) in Bradley history.
The 2015-16 season included several record-setting performances with Burns carding the lowest 54-hole score in school history with a 205 at the Austin Peay Invitational as the Braves posted the lowest 54-hole team score (867) at the time in program history. Bushong, who was the first freshman in program history to earn All-MVC honors, opened his career with a 69 for one of his five sub-70 rounds and had 32 consecutive sub-80 rounds to open his collegiate career for the second longest streak at Bradley.
Roche and the Braves tied for fourth at the 2014-15 Missouri Valley Conference Championship played at the Club at Porto Cima in Sunrise Beach, Mo., marking the third straight year the squad placed in the top four in the league. Bradley had not posted three straight top four finishes in The Valley since 1984-86.
The 2014-15 squad was one of the most successful in recent years for the Braves, with Burns making a big impact in his first season The Hilltop. The former junior college All-American tied for eighth at the MVC Championship and his team-best 74.52 stroke average ranked fourth among Bradley season marks at the time. Danny Masrin was close behind with a 74.60 average (6th in school history at that point) and tallied the second longest streak of consecutive sub-80 rounds (30) in school history. In addition, Seth Trolia capped his career with a 75.09 average as he finished his Bradley playing days with the second lowest career average (75.39) by a Brave along with breaking the school career mark with 104 sub-80 rounds.
In 2013-14 the Braves posted the lowest team stroke average (76.70) in school history at the time to break the previous record of 77.41 set in 1967-68. Bradley won the Butler Fall Invitational for the team’s first title since the fall of 1996 and went on to claim top team honors at the Beu Mussatto Invite as the Braves won a pair of titles in the same season for the first time since 1995-96.
The 2012-13 season saw the Braves finish on a strong note, with the team placing fourth at the MVC Tournament in Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the squad’s best league showing since 1995. Trolia, who is the only individual to have four season averages rank among the top 25 in school history, led the 2012-13 team with a 75.88 stroke average for the lowest individual average by a Brave since 2006-07. In addition to Trolia’s success, Andrew Weisenborn won medalist honors at the Bradley Invitational and Daniel Young garnered First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete honors.
While Roche aided both the Bradley men’s and women’s programs during his time as a volunteer assistant, the majority of his focus had been with the women’s golf team. During those nine years, the Bradley women won the Missouri Valley Conference team championship in 1999, 2002 and 2003 and advanced to NCAA regional play in 2002 and 2003. The Bradley women also produced three MVC Championship medalists and 14 all-conference performers during his time with the squad.
Roche, who earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Illinois State University in 1989, boasts 30 years of experience in the golf industry. After serving as the boys and girls golf coach at Bloomington (Ill.) High School from 1991 to 1992, Roche was the assistant golf professional at the Illinois State University Golf Course (1992-95) and Soangetaha Country Club in Galesburg, Ill. (1995-96) before serving as the head professional at Shewami Country Club in Sheldon, Ill. from 1996 to 1997.
From 1997 to 1998, Roche was the head golf professional at WeaverRidge Golf Club, where he created and directed golf instruction programs for individuals and groups. He was also responsible for all facets of the WeaverRidge golf shop operation, including the supervision of a staff of 30 and organizing more than 100 events.
Roche became a full-time employee at Bradley University in the spring of 2000 when he replaced Corky Robertson as the Director of Ticket Operations for the athletic department. He also had a near two-year tenure as the director of development for the school’s Foster College of Business Administration.
In addition to his work with the Braves, Roche was named the 2015 PGA Teacher of the Year for Central Illinois.
Jeff resides in Morton with his wife Jenny and their children Payton (a Bradley graduate), Derek and Collin.
