Huber Earns Medalist Honors at Region 10 Men's Golf Championship

Sophomore Andreas Huber of Sandhills Community College posted scores of 77-75-152 to earn medalist honors at the Region 10 Championship held at Hyland Golf Club and Quail Ridge Country Club on Monday and Tuesday.

The Flyer men were unopposed in the team competition as no other Region 10 college from NJCAA Division III entered a complete team.

The team score for Coach Gus Ulrich's squad was 305-313-618. Individually, Huber finished one stroke better than teammate Carson Witherspoon who shot 73-80-153, including the lowest single round by any of the participants.

The third through fifth places went to the Flyers' Nick Agapion, 76-80-156, Dakota Oman, 79-81-160 and Adam Hathaway, 87-78-165. Lee Bass, Gabriel Osborne and Cole McBurnett of Central Carolina CC completed the field.

Huber, who is from Bruneck Italy, and prepped at Montverde Academy in Florida, leads the team with a stroke average of 75.875 through eight spring tournament rounds. So far he does not have any plans for next year.

His coach describes him as a hard worker and a team player who is always upbeat and accepting of suggestions to make changes in his game.

"Andreas is a marvelous ball-striker," Ulrich said. "I think he has a lot of potential and physically he's as good as I've ever seen."

For a Flyer squad that also includes freshmen Andrew Crawford, David Langley and Noah Maness, the NJCAA Division III Championship is scheduled for June 7-11 at Chautauqua Golf Course in Chautauqua, NY.

It is the same course where the Flyers won a national title in 2014 and finished as the runner-up in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2019. The tournament was canceled last year.

Ulrich doesn't consider the seven week wait for the tournament to begin an ideal situation. He will try to find some amateur tournament opportunities for his golfers between now and then.

"We've got a few things to work on," he said, following Tuesday's round at Quail Ridge in Sanford. "I think the key for our team moving forward, and on to nationals, is to practice hard and we need to get in some competitions."

Part of the reason for the limited participation in this year's Region 10 event is attributable to an announcement made by the NJCAA in February that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and the financial status of programs, the 2021 Division III Men's Championship will be an open invitational. Previously each region qualified its team and individual champion.

The change for 2021 only, allows all NJCAA eligible participants to compete at the national tournament.

C. Bergmann