Ball State University Athletics
Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics
Cardinals Earn Automatic Bid to NCAA Golf Regional; Selection Show on Wednesday
April 29, 2024 | Men's Golf
MUNCIE, Ind. – Anticipating its first NCAA Regional appearance since an at-large berth in 2013, the Ball State men's golf team awaits announcement of its regional destination during the NCAA's Division I Men's Golf Selection Show on Wednesday, May 1 at 2 p.m. ET. The show airs live on Golf Channel.
Ball State earned an automatic bid to this year's NCAA golf championship by virtue of its first-place finish at last weekend's Mid-American Conference Championship. The Cardinals will play as one of 67 teams at an NCAA regional site, May 13-15, and hope to be one of 30 teams to qualify for the NCAA national championships, May 24-29 in at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
Regionals will be conducted at six sites – three of which will host 13 teams and 10 individuals (not on qualifying teams), the other three hosting 14 teams and five individuals (not on those teams). The six regional sites are below:
"I'm just so excited for this group to have the opportunity to continue in the postseason and play in one of the NCAA regionals, with the chance to move on to the finals," said 26th-year head coach Mike Fleck who was named the MAC's Coach of the Year. "They have worked hard, and battled through a challenging and competitive schedule while proving they are one of the top teams around. We are not done yet and we look forward to our name being called Wednesday afternoon. From there, we will get back to work preparing to compete wherever they send us."
For Fleck, it will be his second trip to NCAA competition as a coach, having guided the 2013 club to a regional appearance in Pullman, Washington, then qualifying for the national tournament in Atlanta. It is Fleck's third national postseason appearance, following last year's squad that qualified as a team for the inaugural National Golf Invitational conducted in Maricopa, Arizona. The Cardinals finished fourth as a team, with Kash Bellar finishing as the individual champion.
Bellar, Carter Smith and Ali Khan lead the 2024 Cardinals who won the MAC last weekend by five strokes over Miami University. Bellar, a fourth-place finisher in the MAC Championships in two straight seasons, and Khan, also tied in fourth, both were named to the MAC's all-tournament team. With Canadian lefty Braxton Kuntz and freshman Alec Cesare, the Cardinals venture into this year's NCAA competition without a senior in their lineup and with depth as their calling card. Kuntz' 71.87 average was Ball State's best during the month leading into the MAC Championships, and Cesare's 2-under-par round last Sunday was the Cardinals' best round on Championship Sunday.
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Ball State earned an automatic bid to this year's NCAA golf championship by virtue of its first-place finish at last weekend's Mid-American Conference Championship. The Cardinals will play as one of 67 teams at an NCAA regional site, May 13-15, and hope to be one of 30 teams to qualify for the NCAA national championships, May 24-29 in at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
Regionals will be conducted at six sites – three of which will host 13 teams and 10 individuals (not on qualifying teams), the other three hosting 14 teams and five individuals (not on those teams). The six regional sites are below:
- The University of Texas Golf Club | Austin, TX (Texas, host)
- University Club | Baton Rouge, LA (LSU, host)
- UNC Finley Golf Course | Chapel Hill, NC (UNC, host)
- The Farms Golf Club | Rancho Santa Fe, CA (San Diego, host)
- Stanford Golf Course | Stanford, CA (Stanford, host)
- Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex | West Lafayette, IN (Purdue, host)
"I'm just so excited for this group to have the opportunity to continue in the postseason and play in one of the NCAA regionals, with the chance to move on to the finals," said 26th-year head coach Mike Fleck who was named the MAC's Coach of the Year. "They have worked hard, and battled through a challenging and competitive schedule while proving they are one of the top teams around. We are not done yet and we look forward to our name being called Wednesday afternoon. From there, we will get back to work preparing to compete wherever they send us."
For Fleck, it will be his second trip to NCAA competition as a coach, having guided the 2013 club to a regional appearance in Pullman, Washington, then qualifying for the national tournament in Atlanta. It is Fleck's third national postseason appearance, following last year's squad that qualified as a team for the inaugural National Golf Invitational conducted in Maricopa, Arizona. The Cardinals finished fourth as a team, with Kash Bellar finishing as the individual champion.
Bellar, Carter Smith and Ali Khan lead the 2024 Cardinals who won the MAC last weekend by five strokes over Miami University. Bellar, a fourth-place finisher in the MAC Championships in two straight seasons, and Khan, also tied in fourth, both were named to the MAC's all-tournament team. With Canadian lefty Braxton Kuntz and freshman Alec Cesare, the Cardinals venture into this year's NCAA competition without a senior in their lineup and with depth as their calling card. Kuntz' 71.87 average was Ball State's best during the month leading into the MAC Championships, and Cesare's 2-under-par round last Sunday was the Cardinals' best round on Championship Sunday.
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