Matt Hill Seeking Meeting With
Jack Nicklaus
 by Terry Norris

................GOLF

 


photo courtesy of NC State
The accolades having been streaming in for Matt Hill, Sarnia Golf Club member this year:
 
Athlete of the Year at North Carolina State
Winner of Seven NCAA Division I tournaments
ACC Conference Champ
School Record for Tournament Wins
ACC Conference Record for Tournament Wins
U.S. Open Qualifier Winner.
 
With all that behind him one would think Matt Hill had accomplished enough for one school year.  Yet Hill is seeking a meeting with golf legend Jack Nicklaus. 

Hill took one of three big steps to that meeting by finishing tied for the lead at the first round of the NCAA Championship held in Toledo, Ohio at the historic Inverness Club.   Nicklaus an Ohio native and tremendous college golf supporter will present the award given in his name.  The Golf Coaches Association of America’s Player of the Year Awards in Divisions I is named after Nicklaus. Nicklaus will be on hand to present those awards at a Championship Dinner held after the third round on Thursday May 28, 2009.   Hill hopes to be that person.  The award winner is voted on by the golf coaches in the NCAA.  HIll certainly is considered a top contender.   Winning the NCAA Championship Tournament will only add more certainty to HIll's  choice as Nicklaus Award Winner.   In addition to the dinner presentation each June, Jack Nicklaus himself,  welcomes the four Nicklaus Award recipients during the final round of The Memorial Tournament, the prestigious PGA Tour event Nicklaus founded and hosts annually in Dublin, Ohio.   

 Ironically Matt Hill's biggest competitors for the Nicklaus Award is friend and fellow Canadian Nick Taylor from British Columbia who plays for Washington State.  It is hard to see how the top named College Player in NCAA golf will not be a Canadian.  Taylor finished the first round tied for fourth one stroke off the lead set by Hill and two others.

Hill held the lead through most of the back nine and got himself to three under only to bogey his 18th hole of play.  Hill's round of 69 included four birdies and two bogeys at the par 71 Inverness Club in Toledo.  The historic club has been host to many PGA events and in fact is the course where Nicklaus at age 17 won the U.S. Open for his first of 18 major victories.