Emily Leighton | Staff Writer
On Saturday May 2, the Buena Vista University (BVU) men’s golf team finished up their season competing in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships (IIAC). The men finished 7th overall.
Junior John Bral had a successful season as he walked away with a first place finish at the BVU Invite on Apr. 17th and 18th and took 13th overall in the championship.
“I don’t want to let the 7th place finish at conference define our success for the season because we have beat every team in our conference at least once, except for one team. Our program is just as strong as any of the other golf programs in the IIAC; we just didn’t play our best golf during this tournament, and that’s the way the game of golf goes. You have high streaks, and you have low streaks. It just happened that we weren’t playing to the best of our ability during this time,” Bral said.
Although BVU didn’t finish as high as they wanted, the season as a whole was a win for the program. The team improved over the season, and each member of the team all contributed to produce a stronger Beaver golf program.
“Overall it has been the most successful season for the BVU men’s golf program, and I am very happy with how far we have come and how much we have learned as a program to strive towards constant improvement,” Bral said.
Coach Mitch Brunick was impressed with what the team brought this year and is looking forward to what they have next season as well.
“Over the course of the year, I have seen many improvements in each player. We have gone from a program that had the want to compete at the highest level to having more desire and passion for what we needed and wanted to accomplish. Although we may not have finished where we would have liked, it was great to see the motivation each player had throughout the course of the year,” Brunick said. “The dynamics of the program changed from day one to the final day of conference as we worked on each aspect of the game to put us in the position we were in.”
Junior Brady Haye is aware of what this team can bring, and he is ready to see what happens next season.
“I would say overall our team showed a lot of improvement throughout the season. We gained a lot of confidence and grew a lot as a team. We showed the ability to post some good scores, and everyone posted personal collegiate bests throughout the season,” Haye said.
Going into next season, this Beaver team now knows what it takes to continue to grow and bring home that first place finish.
“I am going to take many positives from the end of the season into the next, and I believe the returning players will do so also. We have worked hard, and we all have a better understanding of what it is going to take in the upcoming years to compete at the next level. We will be better equipped next year for our conference tournament as I have learned and researched what it is that is needed to play the game at the next level. We are in a good place as all returners have the desire to play their best golf possible and the will to win that we will be ready to go in the upcoming years,” Brunick said.
This Beaver golf team is gearing up and ready to take on the next season. These men will continue to improve throughout the summer and expects great things to come.
