The Ball State men’s golf team opened their season this weekend at the Bryan National Collegiate hosted by the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) at Bryan Park Golf Club. The field included ten teams, mostly hailing from the East Coast. Two other Indiana schools joined Ball State in Greensboro as well. The Cardinals were able to hold their own and finish 8th of 10.

The senior-laden group was again led by Braxton Kuntz and Kash Bellar, the two led the charge with the low team scores. Kuntz spent much of the weekend within the top five and found himself within three strokes of the leader with under five holes to play. Kuntz made a late push for the lead after a bogey on 18 was followed by birdies on 2 and 3. After a par on 4, he finished with a bogey on 5 to finish the weekend at six under. 

In Round 1, Kuntz carded a one under 71 including an eagle on hole 3 and a bogey-free back nine. Kuntz’s ability to keep his scorecard relatively clean kept him toward the top of the leaderboard all weekend. Round 2 was another solid day for the senior lefty with five birdies overcoming two bogeys. Kuntz shot a 69 on day two to bring his round score down to -4. Going into moving day, Kuntz found himself in a position to make a push for the lead. Leader and eventual winner Kelvin Hernandez of UNCG (University of North Carolina Greensboro) stayed strong at the top and did not budge. A strong performance from Hernandez held Kuntz and others from making a jump into the top spot.

Bellar was able to keep himself around +5 throughout the weekend. A few miscues here and there were followed by birdies to keep his score close to the par 72 line. Bellar was able to hold his own and finish the weekend at +9 after a tough finish to his round today. A double-bogey on hole 5 blemished an otherwise solid round. 

Hole 5 gave many golfers trouble, specifically in Round 3, with only four golfers carding birdies on the dogleg right par four. Ali Khan was not far behind Bellar shooting +10 on the weekend. Griffin Hare followed Khan with a +13 weekend and newcomer Avery Mahoney shot a +14 along with returnee Carter Smith. 

As a team, the Cardinals shot +23 with rounds of +10 on days one and three. Day two saw the Cardinals making a move and shooting +3. 

The team will look forward to hosting their own event this weekend from September 14th through the 16th. The Golfweek “Put Me In Coach” Invitational will be hosted by the Cardinals at Delaware Country Club and will be an individual-only tournament. Tee-times have not yet been released and the lineup for the Cardinals is also undecided at the time. 

Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor

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