Smith Leads Cardinals in Final Round of Badger Invitational

MADISON, Wisc. – Playing in the top spot in the Ball State men's golf lineup all of last season, Carter Smith produced the Cardinals' top scorecard Tuesday during the final round of the Badger Invitational at the University of Wisconsin's University Ridge Golf Course. Smith (78-74-72--224), playing at No. 5 in the Ball State lineup after a qualification round earlier this week, finished at even par Tuesday, firing a 72 with as many birdies and bogeys as holes of par.

Completing perhaps his best round of the season in less-than-ideal conditions, Smith fought through a day in which high scores were the norm on the blustery, 7,286-yard track. While every school in the 16-team field shot over par on Tuesday, Smith countered five bogeys with five birdies, among eight holes of par. Despite high winds resulting in double bogeys for multiple teammates, Smith was consistent all day within one stroke of par. He lowered his 18-hole score for the third straight day and was one of only 13 players in the entire 90-man field with a score of par or better on Tuesday.

Ali Khan finished 1-over par for Ball State and Happy Gilmore was 5-over, followed by Braxton Kuntz and Kash Bellar who both shot +6. Individual golfer Gavin Hare completed the day at +3 to finish one stroke behind Khan for the Cardinals' best score over 54 holes.

"We faced a much tougher golf course today versus the first two days with stronger winds and firm and fast fairways and greens," said Cardinals coach Mike Fleck. "Similar to our first two events, one poor round put us in hole early that we had to fight and scrape out of to get a respectable finish. I'm happy we bumped up into top 10 but we have a lot of improvements to make to be more competitive. A couple of weeks to get ready for Little Rock is what we need."

Overall, Ball State (304-288-300--892) finished in a 10th-place tie, catching South Dakota State (892) on the final hole of the day to rise one spot in the standings from Monday's 11th-place finish. Ball State is idle until Oct. 14-15 when the Cardinals travel to Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ball State Individual Results, through 54 holes (Final)
No. 2 Ali Khan (220): 39-38—77 | 36-34—70 | 39-34—73 (+1, 25th)
No. 5 Carter Smith (224): 36-42—78 | 34-40—74 | 36-36—72 (+8, 40th)
No. 4 Happy Gilmore (225): 33-39—72 | 36-40—76 | 38-39—77 (+9, 45th)
No. 1 Braxton Kuntz (226): 38-39—77 | 35-36—71 | 38-40—78 (+10, 53rd)
No. 3 Kash Bellar (229): 39-39—78 | 32-41—73 | 38-40—78 (+13, 67th)
Individual Gavin Hare (222): 34-35—69 | 43-35—78 | 39-36—75 (+6, 36th)

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Smith Leads Cardinals in Final Round of Badger Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Kash Bellar

Happy Gilmore

Gavin Hare

Ali Khan

Braxton Kuntz