HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – The No. 3 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team has claimed back-to-back NCAA South/Southeast Regional titles after shooting the second-best 54-hole score in program history at 28-under par in the 2025 tournament at Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. 

UNG will now advance to the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Golf National Championship May 19-23 at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Not only did the Nighthawks make a statement by defeating the field by a staggering 24 strokes, they did so against the toughest regional field in the country as 15 of the Golf Coaches Association of America's (GCAA) top 25 teams competed at Mission Inn Resort this week.

UNG also went back-to-back in more ways than one. With 5-under par 67 in Saturday's final round, graduate student Jack Vajda claimed individual medalist honors in the South/Southeast Regional for the second straight year. 

Vajda finished the tournament at 10-under par and in a tie for first place with No. 14 Wingate's Brandon Skidmore. 

In a two-person playoff, Vajda made quick work of Skidmore by sticking his approach shot one foot from the pin on the first playoff hole before tapping in the birdie for his third victory this season. 

Vajda was simply sensational this week for UNG. On Saturday he battled through a difficult front nine at even par, allowing him to attack the back nine for five birdies, four of which came consecutively at holes 12-15. The Canton, Ga. native was below par in all three rounds of the tournament with a 71, 68 and 67 over the three-day regional. 

"He's such a good player. He's so mature," said UNG head coach Bryson Worley after the tournament. "He's just so even keeled. Nothing really bothers him."

After finishing as a finalist for the 2024 Division II Jack Nicklaus Award, Vajda entered 2025 with high expectations. He opened the year with two victories at UNG's 3rd Annual Mizuno Intercollegiate and the GSW Hurricane Invitational. Even one of the best players in the country can struggle in the sport though. 

When the calendar turned, Vajda failed to qualify for the team's first spring tournament of 2025. He eventually found his way back into the lineup for the final four events of the regular season but did not finish better than 19th place in any of them. But some players are made for the big stage and Vajda is one of those players.

He led the Nighthawks at the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Championship with a fourth-place finish, building confidence towards this week's victory in the Sunshine State.

"I've been watching him get better and better and we worked on some stuff at conference and it started to click in. He's just a gamer." 

Confidence has never been an issue on or off the course for Vajda. But with newfound success at the end of the season, Worley says, "he's got a little swagger back." 

"He's so comfortable with who he is off the golf course, and on the golf course he doesn't ever panic and that kind of bleeds into the other guys."

Vajda set the tone for the rest of the Nighthawks to have a big week right by his side. All five UNG golfers finished in the top 13 or better, marking the first time this season the team has accomplished such a feat. 

Senior Hughes Threlkeld shot a 2-under 70 with three birdies on the back nine Saturday to finish in seventh place for his third top-10 showing this year.

Rounding out the scoring for UNG were senior Ethan Day, junior Hunter Smith and sophomore Colby Bennett, all three of which landed in a six-way tie for 13th place at 2-under for the tournament.

Bennett had his best day of the tournament with a final-round 69 on Saturday. He carded three birdies on the challenging front nine at the 6,960-yard, par-72 Mission Inn Resort. Only Vajda carded as many birdies on the front nine this week for the Nighthawks.

UNG put the college golf world on notice this week. While the 2024-25 season may not have produced the results to match the expectations for the National Runners-Up from a year ago, dominating the best regional field in the country in this fashion is no accident.

"We talked about focus and how important it was. Sometimes you can try too hard and you just have to free yourself up and just know that you're good enough," said Worley.

"[Friday] was probably the best round I've had from a team in a while under those circumstances," Worley said of the squad's 15-under performance in round two in which all four scoring golfers shot 69 or better.  

Friday's performance set the table for the Nighthawks to hoist the trophy Saturday. "This is the hardest thing in college golf, it's intense. It was nice to have that cushion going into Saturday and we could play free and have fun," said Worley.

Now UNG will head to PGA National Resort with the opportunity to improve on its National Championship Runner-Up showing from a year ago. 

Despite heading to the biggest stage in college golf, Worley and his guys are focused on the task at hand.

"It's the toughest regional in the country… You kind of feel like you're playing with house money going into the National Championship. That's the fun part, the grueling test is this thing every year. We're looking forward to going down and seeing what we can get into."