Golfweek Conference Challenge team finishes
1. Ball State - 853
2. Cambell - 868
3. San Jose State - 869
T4. Iowa - 871
T4. Illinois State - 871
T4. Arkansas State - 871
T7. Furman - 875
T7. Missouri Kansas City - 875
9. Dayton - 876
10. Jacksonville State - 878
11. Sacromento State - 879
12. Oakland - 887
T13. Loyola Marymount - 889
T13. Drexel - 889
15. Marshall - 894
16. Kansas State - 900
Finishing 11-under par with a total score of 853, Ball State Men’s Golf finished first among 11 teams at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The tournament marked the first number one finish for the Cardinals since the Pinehurst Intercollegiate in March 2017. After struggling collectively in the 2019 Spring Season, head coach Mike Fleck was nothing but proud of his team’s combined effort.
“The guys did a great job this week and played really solid team golf,” Fleck said. “It’s awesome to get the win. [Tuesday], we weren’t as sharp, but we still had some guys step up and it was good to see them play to their potential.”
Individually, sophomore Joey Ranieri led the Cardinals with a score of 209, good for a tie in second place. After taking home the award for Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year last April, the event marked the third top-10 finish in Ranieri’s career.
“Joey had a great week,” Fleck said. “To make one bogey over 54 holes at this place [is impressive] and he did a great job with that.”
The Cardinals also saw a strong performance from redshirt junior Keegan Bronnenberg, tying for sixth with a score of 212. Ball State was rounded out by sophomore Yianni Kostorous (T-27), junior CJ Jones (T-32) and junior Jack Cunningham (T-68).
Sunday’s opening round saw Ranieri, Bronnenberg and Kostorous all finish with scores under 70. Jones’ 4-under par 68 highlighted Monday’s action, in addition to both Ranieri and Bronnenberg hitting under par in the second round.
“We had several guys step up,” Fleck said, “and it was good to see them play to their potential. I thought Keegan got it around pretty efficiently, and CJ had a great middle round.”
While the Cardinals ended Tuesday’s final round with a score of 293, their highest of the challenge after scores of 279 and 281 during Sunday and Monday’s rounds, it was good enough to lead them to first place. Ranieri led the Cardinals Tuesday with a score of 1-under par 70.
Despite Ball State’s top finish, Fleck continues to look for an improved short game and overall putting from his team on the green.
“Strokes gained-putting could be improved for sure,” Fleck said. “Hopefully, we’ll have an improved short game and be ready for SMU [next week].”
Ball State will be back in action Sept. 22-24 in the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas.
Contact Connor Smith with any comments at cnsmith@bsu.edu or on Twitter @cnsmithbsu.
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