HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. --- Tusculum College's Brad Hawkins fired a one-under par 71 in the final round of the 2016 NCAA Division II Men's Golf South/Southeast Super Region Championship, which was held at the par-72, 6,928-yard Mission Inn Resort.
Hawkins finished the championship with a three-day score of 70-78-71=219 (+3) to tie for 15th place and wrap up one of the finest playing careers in school history.
The Knoxville, Tennessee senior finished his final collegiate round with three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars to card his second score in red numbers in the 54-hole super regional. He finished in style as he birdied his final hole to cap off the best season in TC and South Atlantic Conference history.
The top-five teams and the top-two individuals not affiliated with either of those teams at this week's Super Regional, earn bids to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Denver, Colorado. Lynn captured the South/Southeast Region title with a 54-hole total of 863, edging second-ranked Saint Leo by three shots. Florida Southern (868), West Florida (874) and Barry (882) earned the final three bids to the national championship.
Limestone's Griffin Brown, who finished in fifth place with a three-under par total of 213, and Nova Southeastern's Richard Mansell, who took sole possession of seventh place with a 215 (-1), received the two individual bids to the national championship.
Hawkins was the sixth Pioneer in program history to receive an
individual berth to the NCAA postseason.
This was Hawkins second NCAA appearance, but first as an individual
competitor. The Pioneers earned a team automatic berth last
year.
Hawkins was named the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Player of
the Year, becoming the fourth Pioneer in program history to earn
the SAC's top golf honor. His 70.71 stroke average this year
breaks the previous TC best of 72.08 by Chase Carroll during the
2008-09 season. It also tops the SAC single-season record average
of 71.59, carded by Newberry's Daniel Stanley in the 2009-10
campaign.
The Knox Central High School graduate finished in the top-five in
nine of his 12 events this year, including medalist honors at the
State Farm Intercollegiate, Pioneer Classic and Hargett Memorial
Intercollegiate.
Hawkins carded a school single-season record 16 sub-par rounds, with nine of those in the 60s, including an 18-hole TC and SAC record 63 at the Pioneer Classic last fall. During the Pioneer Classic, he carded the lowest 36-hole score in school and SAC history with an eight-under par 132. He also established the 54-hole TC and SAC record with a remarkable 16-under par 200 at the State Farm Intercollegiate.
Hawkins career scoring average of 71.37 at Tusculum also shatters the college and conference record book. He breaks Carroll's TC career mark of 74.29 from 2005-09, while also besting the SAC record of 72.80 by Stanley from 2008-11.
His five career medalist wins are tied for third most at Tusculum, while his 24 career sub-par rounds are a new TC record.
Last month, Hawkins was named a semifinalist for the 2016 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. He entered this week's championship holding the best scoring average in NCAA II.
- TC -
