Suspended in Round Two, Carter Smith Fighting for the Lead at Everett Buick GMC Classic

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Staying hot after firing Ball State's top scorecard at the Cardinals' most recent event in Madison, Wisconsin, Carter Smith torched the 7,115-yard course at Chenal Country Club on Monday to stand one stroke out of first place through 32+ holes at the Everett Buick GMC Classic. Smith shot a 2-under par 70 in the first round, then carded a 6-under through the first 14 holes of round two. Play was suspended due to darkness, and will resume Tuesday morning with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. CT.

Smith birdied four holes to counter a pair of bogeys on the first 18 holes. On his second trip around the track, he didn't shoot above par through 14 holes and produced six birdies, at one point four-in-a-row, starting on the 10th hole. He trails Little Rock's Archie Smith on a Smith & Smith leaderboard heading into Tuesday's final round.

Competing as an individual this week for Ball State while freshmen Happy Gilmore and Gavin Hare took turns in the starting rotation, Smith led the Cardinals without counting in the team score. Ball State shot 19-over par collectively in the first round, but bounced back for a +5 team tally in round two. Ball State's team lineup finished both rounds, though most teams had golfers spread between their 14th to their 17th holes of competition when play was halted.

Braxton Kuntz paced the Cardinals' team with 2-over par scoring in both rounds. Ball State's best team-scoring round of the day came from Hare with a 2-under par 70 to finish the day, after opening with a 12-over 84. The Cardinals sit in 14th place leading into Tuesday's resumption of play, one stroke behind Southern Illinois, and two strokes ahead of Lamar.

"We had a slow start and a decent second round with much improved scoring versus round one, but not relative to field as most all teams improved scoring as the day went on," said Cardinals coach Mike Fleck. "I'm proud of the fight Gavin displayed with a strong afternoon finish and really excited for Carter, he had a great day and finds himself in contention individually."

Ball State Individual Results, through 32+ holes
Individual Carter Smith (136): 36-34—70 | -6 through 14 holes of Round 2 (-8, 2nd)
No. 1 Braxton Kuntz (148): 33-41—74 | 34-40—74 (+10, 44th)
No. 2 Ali Khan (151): 40-37—77 | 38-36—74 (+1, 57th)
No. 3 Kash Bellar (152): 35-42—77 | 40-35—75 (+13, 68th)
No. 4 Happy Gilmore (154): 40-39—79 | 36-39—75 (+9, 77th)
No. 5 Gavin Hare (154): 39-45—84 | 35-35—70 (+8, 77th)

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Suspended in Round Two, Carter Smith Fighting for the Lead at Everett Buick GMC Classic

Players Mentioned

Kash Bellar

Happy Gilmore

Gavin Hare

Ali Khan

Braxton Kuntz

Carter Smith

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