PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The No. 3 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team finished the 2025 season as an NCAA Division II National Semifinalist after falling to No. 1 Colorado Christian (CCU) 4-1 in the semifinal match of the 2025 Men's Golf Championship at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Friday morning.

The bulk of UNG's rematch with the defending national champions took place on Thursday, but consecutive lightning delays prolonged the completion of the round which was eventually halted with three holes remaining due to darkness on Thursday night.

The Nighthawks were unable to overcome the calm approach and late heroics from the Cougars on Thursday and Friday. 

In the first match, graduate student Jack Vajda faced CCU's Xavier Bighaus, a rematch from the National Championship pairing a season ago. 

Vajda defeated Bighaus by a stroke last year and appeared like he was going to the same in the 2025 edition of the showdown between two of the most talented players in college golf. 

The graduate student from Canton, Ga. held a 3 UP lead with four holes to play, but a bogey at the par-3 15th allowed Bighaus to gain a shot. Then, the Cougar veteran went nuclear. 

Holes 15, 16 and 17 are often referred to as "The Bear Trap" in professional golf, a nod to the course's 2002 and 2014 renovator, Jack Nicklaus. The three-hole stretch is widely considered one of the hardest finishing stretches of any golf course on the PGA Tour. 

After gaining a shot with his par at 15, Bighaus then birdied the par-4 16th hole to gain another shot. With a 1 UP lead on the 17th tee, Vajda lost another shot when Bighaus birdied again at the 172-yard par-3. 

The tee box was moved up for Thursday's round at the 556-yard, par-5 18th hole, allowing players to reach the green in two with a chance for eagle.

All square on 18, both Vajda and Bighaus did just that, leaving an eagle putt for each of them to likely decide the match. Bighaus made his 10-foot putt while Vajda just barely missed his from the side fringe of the green. CCU took a 1-0 lead in the overall match after the remarkable comeback over the last four holes from Bighaus.

In the second match, Nighthawk senior Ethan Day was desperately trying to mount a comeback against the Cougars' hero from last season, Adam Duncan. 

Duncan helped CCU win the 2024 national title when he shot a 67 in the final round to defeat UNG's Will Chambless by two strokes in the final pairing of the championship match. 

On Thursday, the two veterans went toe-to-toe with a berth to the National Championship on the line. 

Day took a 2 UP lead after the first hole as he birdied the opener while Duncan bogeyed. However, the talented Duncan quickly got back in the match, flipping the score at the par-4 4th hole with a birdie and subsequent bogey from Day. 

Day trailed by as many as four strokes on the front nine, but was able to cut the deficit to just two shots by the turn. 

However, both players shot an even 36 on the back nine as Duncan finished with a 72 and a 2 UP lead to win the match, giving the Cougars a 2-0 edge overall. 

The first two matches finished late Thursday night before the overall match was called due to darkness. 

As both teams departed PGA National with a 7:30 a.m. return trip scheduled for Friday morning to finish the match, it was almost already decided. 

UNG held a 6 UP lead with one hole to play in the third match, but trailed by five strokes with two holes to play in the fourth match and six strokes with three holes left in the finale. 

On Friday morning, senior Hughes Threlkeld secured the 6 UP win in the final match of his career.  

Behind him, CCU closed out the final two matches, cementing the 4-1 win and ending UNG's season on the doorstep of a National Championship for the second straight year.

The loss stung the team hard Friday morning. A long, grueling week of play in the Florida heat did not produce the results the Nighthawks had hoped for. 

Yet, the members of this program have so much to remember and be proud of when looking back on this season and their careers. 

Junior Hunter Smith became the first Individual National Champion in program history and the fourth National Champion in school history in the stroke play portion of this tournament, a melancholy silver lining to Friday's loss. 

For the seniors, they will be remembered for their dedication, commitment and selflessness that elevated this program to new heights during their tenures.

Vajda finished his career as the winningest player in program history, securing six individual medalist honors over his last two years in Dahlonega. The self assured veteran was always a steady presence in the Nighthawk lineup, and his success on the biggest stages in the last two years undoubtedly puts him in the category with some of the best golfers in the country.

Day was tied for the most top-10 finishes of any player this season as the senior proved himself as one of the most talented golfers in program history during his time in Nighthawk blue. 

The veteran led by example in his collegiate career, laying the groundwork for the players that will follow him.

Threlkeld will forever be etched in the UNG history books with a record that will likely remain untouched for a very long time. The Savannah, Ga. native holds the program 18-hole scoring record after shooting a 10-under 62 in the final round of the UWF Argonaut Invitational this season. It's not only the Nighthawk record for lowest round, it's the lowest round in the history of the Peach Belt Conference as well.

Beyond that, Threlkeld not only has one of the most amazing stories of perseverance and how hard work can overcome long odds, but he is downright one of the best people a coach could ask for. That fact was clear when head coach Bryson Worley bear hugged him and the two other seniors with tears in his eyes after the match Friday. 

Not tears of joy or sadness, but tears of gratitude. A thank you for your hard work and sacrifice. A genuine display of love, connection and a longing for this relationship to continue. 

Worley's relationship with his seniors will continue, just in a different manner. It will continue when the program inevitably makes another run at a national title. It will continue when Worley cries for another senior class next year. 

It will continue every day in little ways because of the foundation the 2025 senior class built, one that is not cracked or charred by a National Semifinal loss. 

It's a foundation built away from the golf course. Away from the sport of golf entirely. It's built on trust, friendship, honesty, selflessness, humility, accountability and most of all, love. 

Those constructs which are so glaringly evident when observing the 2025 UNG men's golf team are what made this group special. Those things are what make Nighthawk Nation proud of this team.