DAHLONEGA – The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) finalized its 2025 NCAA Division II PING All-America Teams Thursday afternoon. The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's golf team had five players named to the All-America Team in the announcement. 

This season marks the first time in program history in which the UNG men's golf team had all five players from its starting lineup earn All-American status in the same season. This accomplishment comes a year after the Nighthawks had four golfers named All-American last season, totaling nine UNG men's golf All-Americans in the last two seasons.

The Nighthawks were joined only by 2025 NCAA DII National Champion West Florida as the only two teams with five golfers named to this year's All-America Team. 

As the 2025 NCAA Division II Individual National Champion, junior Hunter Smith was automatically named a First Team All-American. 

Senior Ethan Day and graduate student Jack Vajda were each named Third Team All-Americans while senior Hughes Threlkeld and sophomore Colby Bennett were announced as All-American Honorable Mentions. 

Smith shined this season with a 71.38 stroke average over 36 rounds for the Nighthawks, culminating in the fourth National Championship in school history when he dominated the field at the NCAA DII Men's Golf Championship at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. with a 54-hole score of 6-under-par to win individual medalist honors. 

Day and Vajda were UNG's top scorers this season, led by Day who averaged 71.47 strokes over 36 rounds in all 12 events this year. The senior from Dalton, Ga. tied a team-high with five top-10 finishes on the year. He led the Nighthawks with 19 rounds under par this season. His best finishes of the year came in the fall when Day finished in second place at both the Bearcat Fall Invitational and the GSW Hurricane Invitational. 

The only player to defeat Day at the Hurricane Invitational was his fellow teammate Vajda. The Canton, Ga. native etched himself into the UNG record books this year by becoming the winningest golfer in program history. With individual medalist honors at UNG's 3rd Annual Mizuno Intercollegiate, the Hurricane Invitational and the 2025 NCAA South/Southeast Regional (for the second straight year), Vajda capped off his Nighthawk career with a whopping six individual tournament victories. 

Vajda closed his career with a program-best stroke average of 71.59 over 66 rounds. He finished under par in 35 of those outings (53 percent) and recorded the second-most top-5 and top-10 finishes of any golfer in program history. 

Threlkeld also scribed his name in the Nighthawk record books this season. The veteran from Savannah, Ga. not only made his Korn Ferry Tour debut in the middle of the year at the Club Car Championship, but he recorded the lowest 18-hole score in UNG and Peach Belt Conference history. 

With a bogey-free, 10-under 62 in the final round of the UWF Argonaut Championship, Threlkeld made history with one of the most impressive rounds in all of college golf this season. He shot a 4-under 32 on the front nine which included three consecutive birdies to close the round after starting the day on hole 7. On the back nine he exploded with four birdies and an eagle to shoot a 6-under 30 and cap off the day at 10-under.

Bennett was a welcome addition to UNG's lineup after a National Runner-Up season in 2024. The sophomore played in just four events last season and was not a starter in any of them. In 2025 the Greensboro, Ga. native was a member of the starting lineup in all 12 events for the Nighthawks. He tied Vajda for the second-best stroke average of the year at 71.64 and recorded three top-10 performances. Bennett was arguably UNG's most consistent golfer in his second season in Dahlonega, finishing 11 of 12 tournaments in 21st place or better. His year was highlighted by a fourth place standing at the Argonaut Invitational in April. 

With the five All-Americans this season, head coach Bryson Worley has now mentored 14 All-Americans in his career. All have come in the last five consecutive seasons.