Monday, March 11
Opelika, AL
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Ball State University
at
Tiger Invitational
Cardinals Battle Into Ninth Place as Auburn Course Defies Tiger Invitational Teams
March 12, 2024 | Men's Golf
AUBURN, Ala. – Fighting through opening rounds with high scores at Auburn's Tiger Invitational at the Auburn University Club, Ball State jumped up the leaderboard in Tuesday's final round to finish in ninth place among 17 teams, two strokes behind East Carolina in eighth.
The par-72, 7591-yard course with firm greens was an obstacle for every golfer in the tournament – playing long and impacted by recent rain. Mired in the bottom half of team standings through two rounds, the Cardinals (312-309-300—921) flew into the top ten on Tuesday, at one point just one of two teams shooting par or better in the final round.
Ball State's 300 (+12) ended as the fourth-best third-round score, just two strokes behind Auburn (298), Florida Gulf Coast (298) and Elon (298). Host and second-ranked Auburn (298-284-298--880) won the event while finishing 16-over-par as a team. Second-place FGCU (302-294-298—894) finished 30 strokes over par.
"We battled," said Ball State coach Mike Fleck. "It was extremely tough out there today and all week. We made the biggest climb up the leaderboard today with one of the lowest final-round team scores. This was a championship venue and one of the hardest courses we have played over the last few years. We managed it much better today than we did yesterday."
Over three rounds, four different Cardinals shared low-scoring honors for Ball State. Braxton Kuntz paced the Cardinals in round one at 4-over-par (76) and Ali Khan led the Cards with a 1-over 73 in round two. Carter Smith and Alec Cesare both carded a team-best 1-over 73 in the final round. Reflecting the event's uncommon inconsistency was that Kash Bellar, playing in Ball State's No. 1 position, never led a round for the Cardinals.
Added Fleck: "Everyone was just trying to survive. There wasn't a lot on this course you could control. It was fair, it was just really hard. You knew challenges were going to pop up. You had to battle. You had to have some grit. I was proud of our guys today."
Ball State found itself in 13th place after one round and slipped to 15th after two rounds, but jumped six spots in the final round as Ball State shaved nine strokes off its team score. Ball State was 24-over (312) in the first round and 21-over (309) in a second round that was suspended by darkness on Monday and resumed early Tuesday.
Further evidence of the topsy-turvy course navigation that confounded every team? Jacksonville was in third place with a first-round 300 (+12), but fell into trouble with a second-round 312 (+24) and final round 329 (+41) to finish 16th. Fellow Mid-American Conference schools Northern Illinois and Toledo finished in 13th and 15th place, respectively.
The Cardinals are idle for two weeks before taking part in the Mason Rudolph Championship at Vanderbilt, April 5-7.
Ball State Individual Results, Final
No. 3 Ali Khan (228): 39-40—79 | 37-36—73 | 39-37—76 (+12, 24th)
No. 5 Alec Cesare (231): 38-40—78 | 39-41—80 | 38-35—73 (+15, 39th)
No. 2 Carter Smith (232): 36-43—79 | 40-40—80 | 37-36—73 (+16, 44th)
No. 1 Kash Bellar (235): 39-42—81 | 35-41—76 | 42-36—78 (+19, 53rd)
No. 4 Braxton Kuntz (242): 38-38—76 | 39-44—83 | 41-42—83 (+26, 73rd)
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The par-72, 7591-yard course with firm greens was an obstacle for every golfer in the tournament – playing long and impacted by recent rain. Mired in the bottom half of team standings through two rounds, the Cardinals (312-309-300—921) flew into the top ten on Tuesday, at one point just one of two teams shooting par or better in the final round.
Ball State's 300 (+12) ended as the fourth-best third-round score, just two strokes behind Auburn (298), Florida Gulf Coast (298) and Elon (298). Host and second-ranked Auburn (298-284-298--880) won the event while finishing 16-over-par as a team. Second-place FGCU (302-294-298—894) finished 30 strokes over par.
"We battled," said Ball State coach Mike Fleck. "It was extremely tough out there today and all week. We made the biggest climb up the leaderboard today with one of the lowest final-round team scores. This was a championship venue and one of the hardest courses we have played over the last few years. We managed it much better today than we did yesterday."
Over three rounds, four different Cardinals shared low-scoring honors for Ball State. Braxton Kuntz paced the Cardinals in round one at 4-over-par (76) and Ali Khan led the Cards with a 1-over 73 in round two. Carter Smith and Alec Cesare both carded a team-best 1-over 73 in the final round. Reflecting the event's uncommon inconsistency was that Kash Bellar, playing in Ball State's No. 1 position, never led a round for the Cardinals.
Added Fleck: "Everyone was just trying to survive. There wasn't a lot on this course you could control. It was fair, it was just really hard. You knew challenges were going to pop up. You had to battle. You had to have some grit. I was proud of our guys today."
Ball State found itself in 13th place after one round and slipped to 15th after two rounds, but jumped six spots in the final round as Ball State shaved nine strokes off its team score. Ball State was 24-over (312) in the first round and 21-over (309) in a second round that was suspended by darkness on Monday and resumed early Tuesday.
Further evidence of the topsy-turvy course navigation that confounded every team? Jacksonville was in third place with a first-round 300 (+12), but fell into trouble with a second-round 312 (+24) and final round 329 (+41) to finish 16th. Fellow Mid-American Conference schools Northern Illinois and Toledo finished in 13th and 15th place, respectively.
The Cardinals are idle for two weeks before taking part in the Mason Rudolph Championship at Vanderbilt, April 5-7.
Ball State Individual Results, Final
No. 3 Ali Khan (228): 39-40—79 | 37-36—73 | 39-37—76 (+12, 24th)
No. 5 Alec Cesare (231): 38-40—78 | 39-41—80 | 38-35—73 (+15, 39th)
No. 2 Carter Smith (232): 36-43—79 | 40-40—80 | 37-36—73 (+16, 44th)
No. 1 Kash Bellar (235): 39-42—81 | 35-41—76 | 42-36—78 (+19, 53rd)
No. 4 Braxton Kuntz (242): 38-38—76 | 39-44—83 | 41-42—83 (+26, 73rd)
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