Smith Stays Hot; Cardinals Tied in Fourth Through One Round in Bahamas
October 25, 2024 | Men's Golf
The Cardinals, in fact, were the only one of 12 teams to post six golfers at par or better.
Smith (69) finished in second place two weeks ago in Little Rock, Arkansas, with an 11-under par score over 54 holes to match the best tournament finish of his career, relative to par. Counting his final round at the Badger Invitational on Oct. 1, he has shot five consecutive rounds at par or lower.
With Kuntz (70) and Khan (70) only a stroke behind, the Cardinals scored well as a team to pace among tournament frontrunners. Senior Kash Bellar (71) was another stroke behind at 1-under, putting Ball State's four scoring golfers below par. Gavin Hare (72) finished at even par and fellow freshman Happy Gilmore (71), playing as an individual, was 1-under.
"I'm very happy with our start down here," said Cardinals golf mentor Mike Fleck after seeing his team post its best opening round this fall. "It's awesome to see the under-par rounds and to have all six guys at even par or better validates the depth we have. I'm especially excited to see our veterans all post red numbers. It looks like the numbers the next two days will continue to trend under par so we've got to be ready to attack tomorrow's round with a scoring mentality."
Second-round play on the par-72, 6,943-yard track at The Ocean Golf Course resumes Saturday morning with another 8 a.m. ET shotgun start. The final round commences with another 8 a.m. shotgun start on Sunday..Ball State Individual Results, 18 holes
No. 1 Carter Smith (69): 33-36—69 (-3, 11th)
No. 2 Braxton Kuntz (70): 34-36—70 (-2, 13th)
No. 3 Ali Khan (70): 33-37—70 (-2, 13th)
No. 5 Kash Bellar (71): 36-35—71 (-1, 20th)
No. 4 Gavin Hare (72): 36-36—72 (E, 28th)
Individual Happy Gilmore (71): 34-37—71 (-1, 20th)
Follow the Cardinals
Players Mentioned
