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The Georgia Military College Men's Golf team set a new team scoring record, but came short of winning a record-setting fourth national championship. The Bulldogs were led by All- American's Nick Johnson, Brad Hammock. Johnson finished 3rd with a school record tying four-day total of 288, and Hammock finished 8th with a four-day total of 295.
The GMC Men's Golf team is no stranger to success. They have won three National Championships and looked to return to the winner's circle after finishing second in 2022. Nick Johnson, Brad Hammock, Walter Kelley, Stephen Bishop, and Braeden McDaniel traveled to New York with high hopes.
In the tournament's first round, the Bulldogs got off to a good start. Johnson led the team with a 3 under 68. Hammock 76, Kelley 77 and Bishop 79 put the team in second place after day 1. The team score of 301 was their best of the year, and spirits were high. They trailed Sandhills Community College by just nine strokes and where in the hunt.
On day two the team delivered another great performance posting a 293. Johnson shot a 72 and earned a share of the lead. Hammock also shot a 72 and moved into 5th place. Bishop shot an impressive 73 and Kelly a 76 to round out the scoring.
Day three is "moving day" in the golf world, and the team needed a good number in order to position themselves going in to the last round of the tournament, and they delivered posting a 289 their low round of the tournament and one shot away from a team record. Hammock and Kelley led the charge each shooting a 1 under 71. Nick Johnson shot a 72 to stay in contention for the individual championship and Stephen Bishop posted a 75. Breaden McDaniel posted a 76, the lowest round of his National Championship career.
The Bulldogs are known for their final day heroics. In 2019, they entered the day trailing Sandhills Community College by eleven strokes, and were able to close gap and take home the National Championship. This year the gap would be 21, and the bulldogs would have to do something special to catch the Sandhills. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be the team posted a 305 earning a 2nd place trophy for the third time in a row.
Along with the second-place trophy, the Bulldogs came home with more hardware. Four Bulldogs earned All-American status Nick Johnson finished 3rd, Brad Hammock 8th, Walter Kelley 12th and Stephen Bishop. 13th. Nick Johnson's individual total of 288 also tied a school record set by Floris Veth, when he won the 2017 individual championship. Additionally, the team total off 1188 set a new school record.
Head Coach Kirk Kayden commented, "I am very, very, very proud of the team's performance this week. They worked hard all week, competed to the best of their ability and the golf course really well." Our Men's Golf team has delivered time and time again in 15 NJCAA Championship appearances; the Bulldogs have finished in the Top 5 nine times with three Championships. We have had two individual champions and a total of 20 All-Americans. Congratulations to the Bulldogs on another successful year.