WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – Every season must come to an end at some point. For some teams it happens much earlier than others. For the No. 1 University of North Georgia men's golf team, it happened as late as possible in the championship match of the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship.
After the Nighthawks had run up the dials on their fans' heart monitors in consecutive days of the tournament, absolutely no one expected the final day to be any different. It wasn't.
Facing the No. 5 team in the country in Colorado Christian, UNG went toe-to-toe with an outstanding Cougars team that consistently hit quality golf shots left and right. It was evident from the start of the match that the Nighthawks would have their work cut out for them.
In the first match of the day, junior Hughes Threlkeld fell behind early against Dylan Arthur.
Arthur took a five-shot lead into the turn and held that mark until Threlkeld finally gained a shot with his second consecutive birdie at the par-3 13th hole.
At 16, Threlkeld gained another shot as Arthur bogeyed the par-4. It felt like "go time" for Threlkeld. The final three holes of the golf course is where he had come to life in each of the last two days. Gaining a shot at 16, he was primed to be aggressive at the par-5 17th and make the match interesting.
However, Arthur played the hole well with a good response after his bogey. He birdied 17 while Threlkeld finished with a par. Arthur took that momentum into 18 and birdied once more, ending the match with a four-under 67 and a five-shot victory. It was Threlkeld's only loss in three medal match play rounds. The junior's valiant effort and impressive toughness did not go unnoticed this week as he's poised for a big year in 2025.
Behind Threlkeld was graduate student Jack Vajda. He was in a heated battle with CCU's Xavier Bighaus. All square after 10 holes, Vajda got in front at the par-4 11th hole. He made par while a three-putt bogey dropped Bighaus back a shot. Then came the daunting par-4 at 12.
UNG played hole 12 seven-over as a team in the semifinals against West Texas. The narrow 467-yard hole with a marshy hazard on the right and out-of-bounds on the left had nearly derailed the Nighthawks' chances of advancing to the National Championship. On Thursday, Vajda was the only UNG golfer to birdie one of the most challenging holes at Orange County National Golf Center.
On Friday, he made par but gained a shot over Bighaus. Vajda went down the middle with his drive, landed his approach 12 feet from the cup and two-putted. Meanwhile, Bighaus' drive had landed in the hazard off the right, forcing him to take a penalty stroke as he dropped in the right rough. He would finish with a bogey, giving Vajda a two-shot lead.
The two traded strokes at 15 and 16. On 17, holding a two-stroke advantage Vajda made a par at the par-5 while Bighaus picked up a clutch birdie. The pair headed to 18 with Vajda ahead by a shot. With the current standings behind him, it was critical that Vajda snag a win for UNG in the day's second match. The best golfer in the country since Mar. 25 just needed to tie the 18th hole at worst to secure the win.
With both players missing on their approach shots, bogey became in play for Bighaus, who missed the green short and left, and Vajda, who missed long and left. Each would make bogey, securing a one-shot victory for Vajda.
Junior Myles Jones was finishing up behind Vajda. Early in the round, Jones' opponent, Peyton Jones, had a critical two-shot swing at the par-3 6th hole. Peyton Jones made a birdie while Myles finished with a bogey. Myles went from down one shot to down three. Quality golf from Peyton would help him hold his lead the rest of the way, leading to a four-shot victory as the Cougar golfer ended his round at one-under.
With three matches completed, the Nighthawks had lost two of them. They could not afford another. The good news was that senior Noah Zediker had hopped in the driver's seat of his match.
At hole 12, Zediker redeemed himself after a double-bogey the day before. He made a quality par while CCU's Bradley Mulder double-bogeyed. The match instantly flipped from Zediker being one down to one up in a matter of minutes.
Seeing an opportunity to grab a stranglehold of the match as Mulder appeared to be unraveling, Zediker stuck his tee shot at 13 to 12 feet. Mulder came up short and landed near the hazard. A five-plus minute delay ensued as Mulder searched in the tall-grass marsh that fronts the 13th green. Mulder would not find his ball and was forced to retreat to the drop zone. Zediker made par while Mulder managed a second consecutive double-bogey. In two holes Zediker had propelled himself from down one stroke to up three with just five holes to play.
At 14, Zediker gained another shot with a birdie. Mulder eventually came around with birdies at 17 and 18, but it was too little too late. Zediker entered the clubhouse and closed his career with a two-shot victory, shooting a one-under 70. He could only hope that it would be enough as graduate student Will Chambless and junior Adam Duncan remained as the only two golfers on the course.
The pair stood on the 15th tee with Duncan holding a two-shot margin over Chambless. The Macon, Ga. native stuck his tee shot at the par-3 and made a birdie. It felt like the momentum shift that Chambless would need to make a late charge and reclaim the match. However, Duncan was playing lights out and he came through with one of the biggest putts of the season for CCU.
Duncan made a 20-footer for birdie to effectively steal the hole from Chambless. He should've been only one down but the match remained a two-shot deficit for Chambless heading to 16 tee. Then disaster struck.
While Duncan drove it down the right side of the fairway, Chambless' tee shot landed under a low-hanging tree that butted-up to the left side of the fairway. His approach shot would have to be a low runner under the tree. The only problem was, Chambless didn't have a full swing. A bush blocked his ability to take a full stab at the ball. The result was a clunking sound that had the effect of a dagger in the heart of UNG's chances to shock everyone with another comeback.
Chambless' approach shot drilled the bottom of a branch on the left side of the tree and the ball dribbled to the bottom of the hill in front of the green. He would make bogey while Duncan made par. Chambless was three down with two holes to play.
At 17 there was a chance for eagle and at 18, as Chambless had already proven 24 hours before, anything was possible.
After a drive down the middle, Chambless' approach shot at 17 landed in the center of the green while Duncan put his in the front bunker. Things were turning in Chambless' favor as much as they reasonably could.
Duncan got out of the bunker and had 15-feet for birdie. Chambless simply had to sink the eagle putt. If anyone doubted he would, they simply hadn't been paying attention.
With his entire team watching, Chambless nailed the putt. Yet again, UNG's ringer and ultimate wild card had changed the complexion of the match.
Duncan made par and held a one shot lead with one final hole left to play. Chambless needed to win by two shots. The math had already been calculated that a tiebreaker would belong to the Cougars. The Nighthawks needed a win.
Both players hit solid tee shots. Chambless went left just into the rough while Duncan found a grass bunker on the right. Then Duncan hit one of his best shots of the day. With the pin located deep into the back left corner of the green, Duncan launched the ball and drew it towards the flag. It landed just inches off the green on the fringe. He would have a 10-foot putt for birdie and the National Championship.
Chambless' approach landed at the center of the green. Needing Duncan to three-putt and to make another long birdie himself, Chambless' fortune ran out on the final hole of the season. His birdie putt turned left just shy of the hole and fell a few feet short. Duncan made his birdie putt anyways. UNG's season was over.
It was going to end there no matter what. But it didn't hurt any less when the Nighthawks were forced to watch the Cougars celebrate the program's first National Championship on the 18th green.
While it didn't end the way they wanted, the Nighthawks have more than they'll recognize now to be proud of.
In Worley's sixth season, the program soared to heights never seen before. The Nighthawks won six tournaments with six unique lineups. They finished worse than third in just one tournament all season. They won the Peach Belt Conference Championship. They won the South/Southeast Regional. They advanced to the championship match in the National Championship. And they did it all in an outstanding, gritty fashion. None of those things had ever happened before, but you can believe there's a good chance they'll happen again.
Bryson Worley put it best when reflecting on this season and this team. He said, "Although it's not fun, it's a lot better than having some regrets and I don't think we have any of those."
