Threlkeld Sets Program Record, No. 2 Nighthawks Finish Third In UWF Argonaut Invitational
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 2 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team finished in third place at the UWF Argonaut Invitational at Pensacola Country Club in Pensacola, Fla. on Tuesday.
The Nighthawks landed in third with a combined 22-under par team score for the tournament. They finished three shots behind No. 8 Georgia Southwestern at 25-under and 12 shots behind host and No. 3 West Florida which won the event at 34-under.
While UNG's seventh top three finish of the season was impressive, one individual stole the spotlight as he made history on the 6,903-yard, par-72 track.
No golfer in North Georgia men's golf history has had a better round than senior Hughes Threlkeld did on Tuesday.
The Savannah, Ga. native climbed a whopping 52 spots on the leaderboard as he finished with a 10-under par 62 in the final round.
Threlkeld started his round on the par-3 7th hole with a par. He finished the next three holes the same way.
At the par-3 11th, he sunk a birdie, his first of the day. On the next hole, a 540-yard par-5, Threlkeld recorded one of just two Tuesday eagles at the 12th hole to get to three-under.
After another par at 13, he birdied 14 and 15. He sunk another birdie at the par-3 18th. By the time he turned to the front nine, Threlkeld was cruising at six-under par.
He dropped in another birdie on hole 1. With three holes to play, the fourth-year Nighthawk was one stroke shy of the program record.
He tied the record with a birdie on the par-3 4th hole. Threlkeld played the par-3s at three-under in the final round on Tuesday.
At the par-4 5th, he birdied again to get to nine-under. On his final hole, all Threlkeld needed was a par to set the new program record and a bogey to tie it. He birdied it.
Threlkeld entered the clubhouse with a pristine scorecard. Eight birdies, one eagle, zero bogeys.
His 10-under par 62 broke his former teammate Stephen Kinsel's record 64 from the 2022 Tennessee River Rumble. It also tied the best 18-hole score in the 29-year history of the UWF Argonaut Invitational. The first (and previously only) 62 ever recorded in the tournament came back in 2014 from Midwestern State's Derek Oland.
Tuesday's performance from the Nighthawk senior also came one shot shy of the Pensacola Country Club course record.
After climbing 52 spots in just 18 holes, Threlkeld finished at 3-under and in 14th place for the tournament, marking his fourth top-15 finish of the year.
Sophomore Colby Bennett slid into the spotlight as well on Tuesday. His final round 70 earned him a fourth-place finish at 8-under for the invitational. With three rounds of 72 or better and personal-best of 66 on Monday, Bennett closed the performance with the best finish of his career and his second top-10 standing. Tuesday marked his first ever finish in the top-5 of an event.
Junior Hunter Smith also went into the negatives on Tuesday with a 1-under 71 in the finale. He finished at 3-over and in 48th place.
Senior Ethan Day shot an even 72 on Tuesday as he landed in the top 10 for the fifth time this year. He leads the team in top-10 finishes on the season.
Tuesday's final-round performance marked the 10th time this season all four scoring Nighthawks finished even-par or better over 18 holes. It was the first time it happened since the second round of the Las Vegas Desert Classic on March 3.
With the regular season now complete, UNG will turn its focus to the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Championship coming up on April 18 - 20. The Nighthawks will host the event at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. They are looking to defend their tournament title from last season and become the first program to win the event in back-to-back years since 2018.
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