The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team didn't bring home the ultimate team prize it was seeking in the NCAA Division II championship at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. But the Nighthawks reached the national semifinals and pushed defending national champion Colorado Christian throughout the teams' semifinal medal match before falling 4-1 when it wrapped up the morning of May 23.

UNG defeated Florida Southern College 3-2 in its national quarterfinal match May 22, powered by victories from Jack Vajda, Hughes Threlkeld and Hunter Smith. The semifinal began later that day before weather delayed the finish until the next morning. Threlkeld also scored the lone victory for the Nighthawks in their semifinal loss.

The Nighthawks, coming off a national runner-up finish in 2024, reached medal match play by recording a 3-over-par three-round stroke-play score from May 19-21 to earn the No. 5 seed among the eight teams advancing to the national quarterfinal matches.

Hunter Smith's individual national title at 6-under-par paced UNG in stroke play, with Hughes Threlkeld and Ethan Day both at 2-over and tying for 26th place.

Even though the Nighthawks did not bring home the team national championship, they made more history during the 2024-25 season.

Smith earned only the second individual national championship in UNG history, which was the first in men's golf.

The Nighthawks earned their second consecutive NCAA Division II South/Southeast Regional title, this time outdistancing the field by 24 shots. Vajda earned his second consecutive individual regional championship, as well.

This all came during a season in which UNG reached the NCAA tournament for a fifth straight season, the NCAA championship for a fourth year in a row and match play at nationals for the second straight season.