After three days of competition, Bruins golfer Brandon Autry wrapped up his time at the NCCAA National Golf Championship in Palm Coast, Florida with a total score of 240. 

Brandon earned his spot as an individual golfer in the national tournament after competing well this season. It was a competitive field of 48 golfers representing 12 NCCAA programs.

Competition got underway early Monday morning from Hammock Beach Resort golf course in Palm Coast, Florida. On the opening hole, Brandon had a perfect drive to make par to begin his time at nationals. With a few challenging holes early on, he finished the front nine seven over par. 

After the turn on the par-5 tenth hole, Brandon recorded his first birdie of the competition.
 
Battling through windy conditions and challenging holes, Brandon completed the first round with a score of 86. 

Looking to move up the leaderboard in Round Two, Brandon remained consistent and even par through the first seven holes. After a birdie on the par-4 15th hole, Brandon moved back to just one over par on the day. On his final hole of the day, his birdie putt narrowly missed the hole, but he finished the day with another par. 

Day two saw him finish 13 shots better than Round One with a score of +1 (73).

The final round of the NCCAA National Golf Championship began bright and early on Wednesday as Brandon started on the back nine. 

After a tough start with several bogies in the first nine, he birdied back-to-back on the second and third holes to sit at +7.
 
He finished the final round 43-38=81 for a three round total of 240 putting him T34 in the leaderboard. 

"While the first and third rounds for Brandon were a bit disappointing, the overall experience was incredibly beneficial," said Head Coach Denny Scott. "It was helpful not only for him to evaluate what it will take to reach some of his goals next year as a senior, but also for what he can share with his younger teammates in encouraging them to do what it takes to reach nationals as a team next fall. Brandon's second round score of 73 was certainly indicative of what he is capable of in competing at the Nationals level. It was also more consistent with the scores he has been posting throughout the season: scores which were the reason why he qualified to go to nationals in the first place."

Coach Scott continued saying, "the championship course is extremely challenging and the windy conditions can even make it more difficult. When the pressure of a national tournament is added into the mix, the difficulty of performing at a consistently high level is greatly increased. The physical fatigue is not nearly as tiring as the mental exhaustion from needing to be fully focused and having a high level of concentration on every shot. One small mistake is exaggerated in the wind and the result can be quite disastrous to your final score."

"Brandon showed a strong resolve in the second round and that kind of determination must be sustained for every shot in every round. Performing at that level of golf competition is much more difficult than most people realize. Brandon has worked very hard to reach this level and that can make the disappointment even more intense. However, I believe he is now motivated in an even greater way having had a taste of what it takes to capture a national title either as an individual golfer or as an entire team."

Full results from the NCCAA National Golf Tournament can be found here. 

The Bruins golf team will wrap up their fall campaign with one more tournament on October 28-29 as they travel to Georgia for the Eagle Invitational hosted by Alice Lloyd College.