Men’s Golf Places Second at MAC Championships; Two Named to All-Tournament Team

Sunday, April 30

Athens, AL (Canebrake Golf Club)

All Day

Ball State University

MAC Championship

Men’s Golf Places Second at MAC Championships; Two Named to All-Tournament Team

May 02, 2023 | Men's Golf

Final Results

ATHENS, Al. – The Ball State men's golf team finished the MAC Championships in second place after a hard-fought battle between Ball State and Northern Illinois for the first-place spot throughout round three. Northern Illinois won by just four strokes over Ball State. The Cardinals battled back-and-forth throughout day three, starting off especially strong on the front nine.

"First off, it's been an absolute honor and privilege to coach Joey Ranieri the past five years. I told him when I recruited him that we would compete for MAC Championships and we did just that this week. I'm so darn proud of the fight all our guys showed this week. I challenged them to be big after day one and they responded, we moved up the leaderboard and competed our tails off to the very end," said head coach Mike Fleck. "Kash and Carter finished on the All-Tournament team and every single player contributed this week. No doubt this will fuel us to get back here next year and contend again. Now we wait to see if we are chosen to participate in a newly created post season event, The National Golf Invitational (NGI)."

Kash Bellar are Carter Smith were named to the MAC Men's Golf Championship All-Tournament team after their solid performances and top-five finishes. Bellar finished in fourth place overall and Smith finished tied for fifth place.

Leading the Cardinals again today was Kash Bellar. Bellar continued his momentum after his incredible round two performance, finishing day three at 1-under (76-68-71—215). He recorded an eagle on the par-5, 566-yard hole no.2 to start off round three. He tallied five birdies to help keep the Cardinals in the running for the top-two spot.

Carter Smith finished today at 2-under (76-70-70—216). He notched five birdies during round three to finish in a top-five spot individually.

Joey Ranieri finished round three at 2-over (74-74-74-222), giving consistent efforts throughout all three rounds. He scored a huge eagle in the front nine on the par-4, 372-yard hole no.6 to gain some momentum during round three. Ranieri finished tied for 16^th place individually.

Griffin Hare finished at 6-over today (73-73-78—224) and tied for 22^nd place overall. Ali Khan finished round three at 5-over (80-71-77—228), placing tied for 31^st overall.

The Cardinals will now wait for the newly founded National Golf Invitational (NGI) participants to be announced to see if they will continue their 2023 Spring season. The Cardinals were one of the two MAC schools which qualified for a potential bid after ending the regular season with a win percentage above .500 against Division I teams.

Team Results in the MAC Championship
1. Northern Illinois 295 279 295      869 +5
2. Ball State 299 282 292      873 +9
3. Toledo 302 286 287      875 +11
4. Kent State 294 290 293      877 +13
5. Miami University(OH) 293 291 298      882 +18
6. Central Michigan 291 296 303      890 +26
7. Eastern Michigan 298 292 304      894 +30
8. Ohio 294 305 301      900 +36
9. Bowling Green 291 303 310      904 +40