GAINESVILLE, Ga. – The No. 1 University of North Georgia men's golf team are the 2024 NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional Champions after yet another dominant performance this season, winning the tournament as the top seed and host at Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga. 

The Nighthawks have punched their ticket to the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship May 21-25 at Orange County National Golf Center in Winter Garden, Fla. 

The win marks UNG's first Regional Tournament victory in program history and secures their third consecutive appearance in the DII Men's Golf Championships. It's the Nighthawks' sixth tournament win of the season and their 11th top-3 finish of the year. 

As the No. 1 team in the nation per the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll, the Nighthawks will enter the championships as the top team in the country this year after finishing in 11th place in the championships in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023.

UNG finished the tournament with a combined team score of 855, coming in nine shots under par and 10 shots ahead of the field. The Nighthawks were the only team to finish the tournament below par. Also advancing to Orlando, Fla. was No. 20 Coker in second place at one-over-par, No. 8 Lee in third at nine-over, No. 9 West Florida at nine-over and Wingate at 10-over. 

UNG was led to the victory by a trio of top-15 finishes, headlined by graduate student Jack Vajda who picked up honors as the regional's individual champion after finishing eight-under-par and one shot in front of Nova Southeastern's Joseba Torres. 

Vajda was in fourth place entering Saturday's final round. He teed off on Saturday at three-under-par, trailing Torres by five shots. 

As Torres shot a one-over 73 on the final day, Vajda went the other direction. He opened with a birdie at the par -4 first hole. He carded another at the par-5 fourth to get two shots below par on the round. Two more birdies at 6 and 9 sent Vajda to the turn at four-under for the round and seven-under for the tournament. 

By the time Vajda had reached hole 12 on the back nine, Torres had finished his round and sat as the clubhouse leader at seven-under. Vajda had plenty of time to surpass the senior from Hondarribia, Spain. However, his first bogey of the day at 13 set him back a step. He would not fret for long after immediately getting the dropped shot back at the par-5 14th. With a par at 15, Vajda remained tied for the tournament lead heading into the final three holes of the tournament. 

He posted his sixth birdie of the day at the par-5 16th hole, moving him to the top spot on the individual leaderboard. With pars at 17 and 18, Vajda secured his third tournament win of the season, and second such win in as many events after he earned individual medalist honors in the Peach Belt Conference Championships just a few weeks prior. 

The Canton, Ga. native has now posted seven top-10 finishes this year and every time he's finished in the top-5 it's been in first place with three victories on the season. 

Vajda was joined in the top-15 by fellow grad student Will Chambless and junior Ethan Day. 

Chambless recorded a final round 77 on Saturday to finish T11 at even-par overall for the tournament. 

Meanwhile Day salvaged a birdie at hole 16 in his round to finish the day just one shot over par, ending the tournament at the same mark at T13 on the individual leaderboard. 

Junior Myles Jones turned in a two-over 74 scorecard on Saturday that was highlighted by three straight birdies at holes 4, 5 and 6.He finished the tournament T17 at two-over in total. 

Finally, junior Hughes Threlkled ended his tournament with a five-over-par 77 on Saturday, landing with a T40 finish in the 108-player field at six-over-par. 

The Nighthawks will pack their bags and head to Orlando for the 2024 NCAA Division Spring Sports Festival and Men's Golf Championships as head coach Bryson Worley and the team look to make history and secure the program's first ever and university's fourth national championship.