AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 3 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team finished in third place out of eight teams at the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Championship at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. on Sunday. 

The Nighthawks have now finished in third place or better in four consecutive conference championships. 

Trailing by 17 shots heading into the final round of the tournament, UNG put together an impressive comeback effort on Sunday. The Nighthawks posted the lowest team score of the final round at 4-under par. They finished three shots behind No. 11 USC Aiken in second place. No. 15 USC Beaufort won the championship at 13-under par after going 2-over in the final round.

Sand Shark golfer Erik Rengardt won individual medalist honors with three rounds under par for a combined tournament score of 9-under. He won the tournament by three shots. 

UNG's highest individual finisher was graduate student Jack Vajda. After winning the event last season, Vajda finished in a tie for fourth place this year with two stellar final rounds. 

After an opening-round 76 on Friday, Vajda bounced back with a 67 on Saturday and a 2-under 70 on Sunday to finish the championship at 3-under. 

Vajda's fourth-place finish marks his second best performance of the season and his highest finish since the fall portion of the season.

Seniors Ethan Day and Hughes Threlkeld joined Vajda in the top 15 on the individual leaderboard. 

Day tied Vajda with a 2-under 70 on Sunday for the best Nighthawk round of the day. He birdied four times which included three on the back nine to finish below par. The Dalton, Ga. native has now finished in the top 15 six times this season

Threlkeld used two birdies and a 1-under score on the back nine to finish at even par in Sunday's final round at the par-72, 7,086-yard Forest Hills GC. Sunday marked Threlkeld's third straight top-15 finish and his fifth in total this season.

Junior Hunter Smith finished the tournament at 3-over par and in a tie for 19th place with a final-round 74 on Sunday. Sophomore Colby Bennett concluded his first appearance in the PBC Championship in a tie for 21st place at 4-over in total.

The Nighthawks will now wait to hopefully hear their name called for an at-large selection into the 2025 NCAA South/Southeast Regional later this week. They entered the PBC Championship as the top ranked team in the Southeast Region.