Sunday, April 27
Grove City, OH
All Day
Ball State University
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Mid-American Conference Championship
Photo by: Collin Phillips/Ball State Athletics
Led By Three Seniors Among Its Core Four, Men's Golf Team Defends MAC Title This Week
April 25, 2025 | Men's Golf
MUNCIE, Ind. -- They are currently ranked fifth out of nine teams entering this week's Mid-American Conference men's golf championships, but momentum and veteran leadership may be on the side of the Ball State Cardinals as they defend their MAC title from 2024.
A veteran Core Four returns from last year's championship lineup, featuring seniors Kash Bellar, Ali Khan, Braxton Kuntz and junior Carter Smith. Each of the four has paced the Cardinals at times over the past four seasons, and all four have been honored recipients of All-MAC or MAC Golfer of the Week accolades. Together, the foursome will reside in the Ball State record book as some of the most decorated golfers in program history, including their trip together to the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional last May.
The senior starters in the lineup represent a class of six seniors which also includes Griffin Hare, Colin Nasser and Drew Todd.
If another NCAA regional appearance is in the Cardinals' deck, a second championship will need to be earned this week at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio.
Last year, Ball State outdueled Miami by five strokes to capture the MAC crown. Bellar and Khan tied for fourth place in the 54-hole tournament. Mike Fleck was heralded as the circuit's coach of the year. Bellar, Khan and Smith each earned All-MAC postseason honors and, two weeks later, Kuntz' fired a blistering round of 62 in the first 18 holes at Chapel Hill.
Those honors are already etched in the Cardinals' record book, and so, too, will be each of their career averages. Not counting Smith's senior campaign, career marks for quartet will all fall somewhere among the tops in Ball State history. Legacies aside, Fleck's lineup hopes to become Ball State's first to win back-to-back MAC titles.
To do so, they'll need to get past Kent State (78), Miami (96), Toledo (119) and Northern Illinois (132) - each ranked above the Cardinals (146) in Scoreboard rankings, as of April 25. Less than a week ago, though, on April 19 and 20, Ball State beat Toledo, Miami and NIU as part of an 18-team field at the power-packed Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette. Consistency is key, and Ball State will need to rely on more than experience and momentum.
Navigating the par-72 Pinnacle course will be Khan as Ball State's No. 1 golfer, participating just south of his hometown of Columbus. He is followed in the lineup by Smith, Bellar and Kuntz. Sophomore transfer Avery Mahoney, who golfed last year with MAC rival Eastern Michigan, lines up in the Cardinals' fifth position. Freshman Happy Gilmore is the Cardinals' alternate golfer this week.
Following practice rounds on Saturday, Round 1 starts with 9 a.m. tee times Sunday, with Round 2 slated for Monday and a final round Tuesday.
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A veteran Core Four returns from last year's championship lineup, featuring seniors Kash Bellar, Ali Khan, Braxton Kuntz and junior Carter Smith. Each of the four has paced the Cardinals at times over the past four seasons, and all four have been honored recipients of All-MAC or MAC Golfer of the Week accolades. Together, the foursome will reside in the Ball State record book as some of the most decorated golfers in program history, including their trip together to the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional last May.
The senior starters in the lineup represent a class of six seniors which also includes Griffin Hare, Colin Nasser and Drew Todd.
If another NCAA regional appearance is in the Cardinals' deck, a second championship will need to be earned this week at Pinnacle Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio.
Last year, Ball State outdueled Miami by five strokes to capture the MAC crown. Bellar and Khan tied for fourth place in the 54-hole tournament. Mike Fleck was heralded as the circuit's coach of the year. Bellar, Khan and Smith each earned All-MAC postseason honors and, two weeks later, Kuntz' fired a blistering round of 62 in the first 18 holes at Chapel Hill.
Those honors are already etched in the Cardinals' record book, and so, too, will be each of their career averages. Not counting Smith's senior campaign, career marks for quartet will all fall somewhere among the tops in Ball State history. Legacies aside, Fleck's lineup hopes to become Ball State's first to win back-to-back MAC titles.
To do so, they'll need to get past Kent State (78), Miami (96), Toledo (119) and Northern Illinois (132) - each ranked above the Cardinals (146) in Scoreboard rankings, as of April 25. Less than a week ago, though, on April 19 and 20, Ball State beat Toledo, Miami and NIU as part of an 18-team field at the power-packed Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette. Consistency is key, and Ball State will need to rely on more than experience and momentum.
Navigating the par-72 Pinnacle course will be Khan as Ball State's No. 1 golfer, participating just south of his hometown of Columbus. He is followed in the lineup by Smith, Bellar and Kuntz. Sophomore transfer Avery Mahoney, who golfed last year with MAC rival Eastern Michigan, lines up in the Cardinals' fifth position. Freshman Happy Gilmore is the Cardinals' alternate golfer this week.
Following practice rounds on Saturday, Round 1 starts with 9 a.m. tee times Sunday, with Round 2 slated for Monday and a final round Tuesday.
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