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NASSAU, Bahamas – On a fast track at The Ocean Club Golf Course, Ball State completed its 54-hole tournament at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational on Sunday, finishing in third place behind Charleston and Houston. Junior Carter Smith led the Cardinals and finished sixth overall. Combined, relative to par, the Cardinals’ -26 scorecard established a new program record by beating 22-under par showings at Butler in 2023 and Dorado Beach in 2021.
In three straight rounds of the White Sands Bahamas Invitational, Ball State golfers traversed the par-72, 6,943-yard track with at least three counting scores of par or lower including Smith, Gavin Hare and Braxton Kuntz on Sunday. All three were par or better in all three rounds.
Smith jumped from 11th place after Friday’s opening round and spent much of Saturday in third position before settling in fourth, after firing a personal-best at 8-under par. He stayed among the leaders on Sunday but a bogey on his final hole, the 18th, cost him a top-four finish. Dating to October 1 at the Badger Invitational in Wisconsin, Smith has produced scores of par or better in seven straight rounds. His -11 White Sands finish matched his -11 career low at Butler in 2023.
Perhaps the best example of Ball State’s depth this weekend was Hare’s 2-under 70 on Sunday despite a double-bogey on the par-5 sixth hole. The freshman, playing in the Cardinals’ No. 4 position, shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday and finished -6 for the tournament with a 13th-place finish, the best of his young career. Kuntz also overcame a double-bogey on Sunday, on the par-3 eighth hole, but four birdies and a -4 showing on the back nine helped him to a team-best 3-under 69. He birdied his final hole on #1 to finish tied with Hare and help the Cardinals post three golfers in the top 13 places.
Saving their best golf for theiir final tournament of the fall schedule, the Cardinals were 8-under on Friday and their 14-under score Saturday was the lowest of the 12-team field. Ball State’s -22 scorecard through 36 holes was the second-best in program history, and staying at -22 would tie the Cardinals’ all-time record over 54 holes. Ball State needed to finish under par for a third straight day to establish its new record. Ball State (280-274-284–838) beat fourth-place Maryland (842) by four strokes and host West Virginia (847) in fifth. Tournament champion Charleston (814) and second-place Houston (824), both ranked among the nation’s top 50 teams according to recent NCAA Scoreboard rankings, ran away from the field.
Kash Bellar finished +2 on Sunday for the Cardinals, Ali Khan was +4 and individual Happy Gilmore closed his final round at +7. The Cardinals are idle until hosting the MAC/A-10 Challenge in South Florida in February.
Ball State Individual Results, 54 holes (Final)
No. 1 Carter Smith (205): 33-36—69 | 31-33–64 | 36-36–72 (-11, 6th)
No. 2 Braxton Kuntz (210): 34-36—70 | 36-35–71 | 37-32–69 (-6, 13th)
No. 4 Gavin Hare (210): 36-36—72 | 35-33–68 | 36-34–70 (-6, 13th)
No. 5 Kash Bellar (215): 36-35—71 | 35-36–71 | 39-34–73 (-1, 30th)
No. 3 Ali Khan (219): 33-37—70 | 36-38–74 | 37-38–75 (+3, 43rd)
Individual Happy Gilmore (223): 34-37—71 | 39-34–73 | 40-39–79 (+7, 52nd)
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