LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 2 University of North Georgia (UNG) Director of Golf and head men's golf coach Bryson Worley was honored at the annual Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) National Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. on Wednesday.

Worley was honored for winning the 2023-24 NCAA Division II Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award after leading the Nighthawks to a National Runner-up performance last season. He spoke in front of the GCAA and all present members at the National Convention after receiving the official Coach of the Year plaque. 

It's no surprise Worley was honored as the nation's coach of the year after the 2023-24 season he led his team to. It was a year in which the Nighthawks played in 12 tournaments. They won a staggering six, a program record, and finished third or better in 11 of them. As a team, UNG ranked No. 1 in the nation in the GCAA Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches poll for nearly 40 consecutive weeks during the season. The Nighthawks also held the top spot in the Scoreboard powered by Clippd National Rankings for the entirety of the 2023-24 season.

Worley's team started the year with a win at the Cateechee Fall Invitational in early October. At Cateechee Golf Club in Hartwell, Ga., the Nighthawks shattered the program's previous 54-hole team scoring record. They won the event by 16 strokes with a team score of 815 at 37 strokes under par. All four UNG golfers with counted scores finished four-under or better while junior Ethan Day made his mark with the best 54-hole individual score in UNG men's golf history at 13-under. 

By the end of the season, Worley's squad had accounted for the three lowest 54-hole team scores in program history. Day, along with graduate student Jack Vajda and senior Stephen Kinsel also combined for five different outings of either 18-hole or 54-hole UNG record scoring marks.

In postseason play, the Nighthawks dominated the Peach Belt Conference Championship, winning the event for the first time in program history. They did so by posting  the 54-hole tournament record team score of 846, beating the field by a stunning 18 strokes. UNG broke a 19-year-old tournament scoring record in the historic win. Vajda himself recorded the third-lowest 18-hole score and second-lowest 54-hole score in PBC Championship history on his way to individual medalist honors.

A few weeks later, Worley and company followed it up with the program's first ever win in the 2024 NCAA South/Southeast Regional Tournament. Hosted by the Nighthawks in Gainesville, Ga. at Chattahoochee Golf Club, UNG won the event by beating out 15 of the nation's top-25 teams by a healthy 10 shots. Vajda won individual medalist honors again.

UNG would go on to the National Championship tournament at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla. where it utilized a massive comeback on the last day of stroke play to advance to the match play stage of the tournament. In match play, the Nighthawks took down No. 20 Coker in the quarterfinals. A few hours later, senior Noah Zediker and graduate student Will Chambless did the improbable by each making 20-foot-plus birdie putts on the 18th hole to defeat No. 5 West Texas A&M and advance to the National Championship match. 
 

On an individual basis, Worley coached two PBC All-Conference selections, three GCAA All-Region selections and four GCAA All-Americans, the latter of which made the Nighthawks the only school in the country with multiple first team all-america selections on the year and one of two teams nationally with four all-americans in total. On top of that, Vajda was one of five finalists nationwide for the 2024 NCAA Division II Jack Nicklaus Award.

The GCAA names its coach of the year award after the legendary University of Houston golf coach Dave Williams who won 16 National Championships with the Cougars from 1951-1987. The GCAA extended Williams' honor by naming a coach of the year at each level of collegiate golf (D-I, D-II, D-III, NAIA, NJCAA D-I, NJCAA D-II). Moreover, the GCAA is the only coaches association in America that has given the namesake of its award to one person for every collegiate level of competition. 

In the fall portion of the new season, Worley led the Nighthawks to victories in two of UNG's four competitions with a second and third place finish in the other two events. The Nighthawks are currently ranked as the No. 2 team in the country in the GCAA/Bushnell Golf Week Coaches poll and will resume play in the spring on Feb. 10 at St. Johns Country Club in St. Augustine, Fla. for the LMU Spring Kickoff.