Men's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- mfleck@bsu.edu
- Alma Mater:
- Ball State, 1993
- Phone:
- 765-285-8391
- Years at Ball State:
- 27th season in 2024-25
27th Season at Ball State Entering 2024-25
Alma Mater: Ball State, 1993
- 2024 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year and 2024 MAC Champions
- 2011 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year
- Led Ball State to the 2013 NCAA Nationals, 2023 National Golf Invitational and 2024 NCAA Regionals
- Coached BSU to an all-time high national ranking of No. 20 in Fall 2019
- Owns 23 career tournament championships
Ball State alumnus Mike Fleck has faithfully guided the BSU men's golf program for more than two decades now, upholding a tradition of success and stability that dates back well more than half a century.
Fleck played for the Cardinals from 1988-92 under the legendary Earl Yestingsmeier who coached 36 years in his own right. He took the reigns from his mentor on Aug. 20, 1998 and has created his own success over the past 26 seasons at his alma mater.
Fleck's program is grounded in family, gratitude and the pursuit of excellence in all areas. Upon that foundation, he has taken Ball State -- a team that was always one of the most competitive in the Mid-American Conference -- and placed it on a national stage. The Cardinals compete week in and week out against some of the best fields collegiate golf has to offer. BSU tees it up regularly at major championship venues like Erin Hills, Crooked Stick and Pinehurst and renowned campus tracks like Ohio State's Scarlet Course, Purdue's Kampen Course and the Vanderbilt Legends Club, just to name a few.
The crowning competitive achievement of Fleck's tenure to date came in 2013 when he coached a veteran-laden team to the NCAA Nationals at the Capital City Club in Atlanta. The Cardinals earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament field and were sent west to the regional at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington. Tied for the fifth and final qualifying spot after 54 holes that magical week, Ball State edged San Diego State in a thrilling five-man playoff to punch its ticket to the national championship for the first time since 1986 and the first time ever under the regional format.
That 2012-13 team, which won both the Firestone Invitational and the Pinehurst Intercollegiate, reached as high as No. 27 in the Golfweek national rankings. That stood as the highest ranking in program history until the fall of 2019 when the Cardinals' runaway season-opening victory at the Golfweek Conference Challenge propelled them to No. 20 by Golfweek. The 15-shot, wire-to-wire victory at Cedar Rapids Country Club in a field that featured 10 NCAA Regional teams from the previous season was arguably the most impressive of Fleck's 23 tournament wins so far.
Eleven years later, Fleck captured 2024 MAC Coach of the Year honors for a second time when the Cardinals won their first MAC Championship under his tutelage. Ball State advanced to the 2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional and ultimately finished 10th, after sitting in second place after the first round of competition.
A year earlier, with continuity and consistency becoming a hallmark of Fleck's Cardinals program, Ball State finished second in the 2023 MAC Championships and earned a bid in the inaugural National Golf Invitational. Sophomore Kash Beller won individual champion honors at the first-time event in Maricopa, Arizona, and the Cardinals tied for fourth as Fleck's young team begin rising to prominence again.
Fleck's BSU program has become one of the MAC's most consistent contenders, posting top-3 results at the league championships 10 times since 2005, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018. Fleck's 2023 contingent was his sixth Ball State squad to finish as MAC runners-up, and Fleck's Cardinals captured the flag a year later.
The Cardinals held a lead over perennial power Kent State deep into the final round in 2018 at Sycamore Hills in Fort Wayne before finishing three shots back in their bid for another postseason appearance. BSU also finished runner-up in 2006 and in 2011 when Fleck was named MAC Coach of the Year. The 2023 runner-up finish resulted in Ball State's bid to the NGI, its first postseason berth since 2012. The 2024 MAC crown produced back-to-back Ball State bids to national postseason tournaments for the first time during 1982 and 1983.
In addition to team appearances in the 2013 and 2024 NCAA fields, Fleck has also coached four individual NCAA Regional participants -- Jamie Broce (1999), Eric Steger (2011), Tyler Merkel (2012) and Johnny Watts (2015). Watts qualified for the Ball State-hosted 2015 Noblesville Regional at The Sagamore Club by winning the MAC Championships at Sand Ridge Golf Club, becoming the first non-Kent State golfer to win the MAC since 2008 and the first freshman to win the league since 2005.
Fleck has coached 32 All-MAC selections at Ball State. The Cardinals’ three all-conference selections in 2024 -- Carter Smith on the first team with Bellar and Ali Khan on the second team -- were the most by a Ball State club since 2013 when Tyler Merkel was a first teamer with Joe Gasser and Alex Stinson on the second team. Three All-MAC picks in 2013 and 2024 were the most for the program since 1982.
Fleck coached Broce to MAC Golfer of the Year and All-American status in his first year on the job in 1998-99. He has also coached two MAC Freshman of the Year award winners -- Merkel, who set the BSU rookie scoring average record in 2011, and Joey Ranieri who broke it in 2019.
Three Fleck-coached players have been voted the MAC's Earl Yestingsmeier Sportsmanship Award winner -- Broce (1999), McCormick Clouser (2015) and Timothy Wiseman (2019). Wiseman qualified for the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills after his junior season, becoming the first Ball State golfer to play in a major championship while still in school. He is one of more than a dozen of Fleck's golfers who have gone on to play professionally. Still more are teaching the game professionally.
In addition to the on-course success, Ball State men's golfers have been named Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars on 49 occasions under Fleck's watch. In 2012-13, Ball State tied for the most All-America Scholars in the country with four -- Gasser, Merkel and Stinson and Tony Lazzara. In 2005-06, Ball State was the only school in the nation with five selections -- Brandon Boomsma, Patrick Wilkes-Krier, Wayne Denger, C.D. Hockersmith and Andy Skillman.
Additionally, Fleck has coached 54 Academic All-MAC selections and a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (Broce in 1999 and Dan Witt in 2002). In 2012-13, Ball State accounted for four of the seven spots on the Academic All-MAC Team -- the most in league history under that selection format -- with Gasser, Lazzara, Merkel and Stinson earning nods.
Fleck, who graduated from Ball State in 1993, served as an assistant coach with the Cardinals for the 1993-94 season. He then became the head pro at Hickory Hills Golf Club in Farmland, Ind. for four years before returning to lead the men’s golf program at his alma mater.
Personal Information
Family: Married to the former Dama Dawson (Ball State '93; Master's '95), who is the rehabilitation manager for the Muncie Health and Rehabilitation Center ... the couple has one daughter, Braelyn, born April 11, 2005.
High School: Batesville H. S. ('88) in Batesville, Ind. ... four-time Most Valuable Player
College: Ball State University ('93) ... earned two letters (1991-92) for Coach Earl Yestingsmeier as a member of the golf team ... posted five top-15 finishes as a senior.
Experience
1998-Present: Head Men's Golf Coach at Ball State
1994-98: Head Golf Professional at Hickory Hills Golf Course in Farmland, Ind.
1993-94: Assistant Men's Golf Coach at Ball State
Other: Assistant Golf Professional at Greensburg, Ind., Country Club ... Golf Shop Attendant at Hillcrest Golf and Country Club in Batesville, Ind.
Tournament Titles (23)
2024 MAC Championships
2024 MAC/A-10 Challenge
2023 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
2023 Don Benbow Butler Invitational
2019 Golfweek Conference Challenge
2017 Pinehurst Intercollegiate
2016 Earl Yestingsmeier Memorial Invitational
2014 Mid-American Match Play
2013 Pinehurst Intercollegiate
2012 Firestone Invitational
2012 Mid-American Match Play
2011 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
2009 Dayton Flyer Invitational
2009 Cardinal Collegiate
2006 First Energy Intercollegiate
2005 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
2004 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
2003 Bullock Collegiate Classic
2001 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
2000 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
1999 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational
1999 St. Louis Billiken Invitational
1999 Morehead State Eagle Classic
