Cardinals Improve by 16 Strokes in Rd. 2 of Badger Invitational

MADISON, Wisc. – Ball State got improved play Monday by its veterans and the Cardinals finished 16 strokes better than they did in Sunday's first-round. The Cardinals shot even par on Monday over the par-2, 7,286-yard layout at University Ridge Golf Course at the University of Wisconsin, which was dramatically different from Sunday's scores which were led by freshmen Gavin Hare and Happy Gilmore. Leading the second-round effort were seniors Ali Khan (77-70--147) and Braxton Kuntz (77-71--148) who both shot under par Monday.

Sunday, four Cardinal golfers shot +5 or higher. Monday, all five team scorers shot +4 or lower. Ironically, Ball State's highest second-round was carded by freshman Gavin Hare (69-78--147) who finished +4 after challenging tournament leaders at -3 and in third place after the first 18 holes.

"I was very pleased with today's improvement," said Ball State coach Mike Fleck, "both with our scoring and how we handled things during the round. We had a lot more sub-par holes as a team, but still have quite a bit to clean up. A top-10 finish is the goal along with moving our individual standings up the board tomorrow."

Through 36 holes, Khan is one stroke ahead of Kuntz in the overall standings, followed by Gilmore (72-76--148), Kash Bellar (78-73--151) and Carter Smith (78-74--152). Hare (69-79--148), playing as an individual, is tied with Khan in 38th place heading to the final round, just ahead of Kuntz and Gilmore in 46th.

Ball State (304-288--592) enters Tuesday's final round alone in 11th place, two strokes behind South Dakota State (590) in 10th place. At the top of the team standings, Wisconsin (561), Northern Illinois (563) and Long Beach State (563) are battling for the lead positions, separated by just two strokes.

Tee times on Tuesday begin at 10:30 a.m. ET, with a shotgun start to begin the final round of the 54-hole tournament.

Ball State Individual Results, through Round 2
No. 2 Ali Khan (147): 39-38—77 | 36-34—70 (+3, 38th)
No. 1 Braxton Kuntz (148): 38-39—77 | 35-36—71 (+4, 45th)
No. 4 Happy Gilmore (148): 33-39—72 | 36-40—76 (+4, 45th)
No. 3 Kash Bellar (151): 39-39—78 | 32-41—73 (+7, 60th)
No. 5 Carter Smith (152): 36-42—78 | 34-40—74 (+8, 67th)
Individual Gavin Hare (147): 34-35—69 | 43-35—78 (+3, 38th)

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Cardinals Improve by 16 Strokes in Rd. 2 of Badger Invitational

Players Mentioned

Kash Bellar

Happy Gilmore

Gavin Hare

Ali Khan

Braxton Kuntz

Carter Smith

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