Tanner Hoops | Sports Writer
Staring at the white ball in front of him, John Bral mentally calculates his next move. Putter in hand, he steps onto the green and prepares to sink the same shot he’s practiced thousands of times. He stands over the ball, lowers his head and puts his hands, one gloved, around the neck of the putter. Carefully shifting his weight, he taps the ball forward and allows a slight smile to appear on his face when the ball finds the hole.
John Bral is a senior business major from Storm Lake, his father Jaymie a former football player at Buena Vista University (BVU). John, an all-stater and a four year letterwinner in high school under Coach Dave Skibsted, is in his fourth and final season of varsity golf at BVU. On Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23, John and his four teammates competed in the first weekend of the Iowa Conference (IIAC) championships at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.
After carding an 82 to finished in a tie for 25th to on Friday, John bounced back on Saturday tallying a 75 on the day, moving him up to 15th on the leaderboard, just three strokes out of the top 10.
“This weekend was not the start I had in mind with the goals I had set before the tournament,” John commented, “The first day was a struggle for me mentally, I tried way to hard and put way too much pressure on myself to play well. The second day was much better, I was having fun, had little to no pressure on myself during most of the round.”
As his senior year winds down, John looks back at the memories that stand out to him over the years.
“My best golf memory is winning the BVU home invite in 2015. I shot 71 on day one and was only one stroke back of first place,” John continued. “On day two it was rainy, cold, and windy. I stuck to my game, I played the round shot for shot, scrambled to save pars on the last couple of holes and shot 73. I ended up winning by two strokes but the best feeling was looking back on it and seeing how perseverance and sticking to my game plan paid off in tough conditions.”
“Coming into the program in July, I was always bouncing ideas off of John as what has happened in the past as I wanted see how things ran in the past while working on running things the way I want to run them,” said Buena Vista Head Coach Brett Benson, “John is a person that is always looking to get better and is willing to put in the time to do. He is a teachable kid that will do great things in his life. His work ethic is top notch.”
John reflects on what golf has taught him on and off the course. “The biggest thing I have learned about golf during my collegiate career is how important the mental game is. Its all about confidence and having a consistent mental approach to the game and to each shot. I have lacked in my mental strength on the golf course and I wasn’t seeing improvements. I started to focus on this aspect of my game with a couple of different coaches and over a period of time I have seen major improvements in my scores and how I saw myself as a golfer. Golf is a never ending process to get better.”
As a team, the Beavers improved by 20 strokes on Saturdays and trail 7th-place Coe by 11 strokes. The final two rounds of the IIAC championships will take place Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 at Oneota Country Club in Decorah.
Photo courtesy of Jean Bral
