Matt Hill Wins NCAA Championship Tournament
 by Terry Norris

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

 


photo courtesy of NC State

                Matt Hill knows all too well more golf tournaments are lost than are ever won. 

 Again Hill proved his theory right as his steady play within your limits golf won Hill the 112th NCAA Division I Championship Tournament.  Hill carded three consecutive rounds of 69 at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo Ohio to win the most prestigious college tournament.  Hill was the only player during the three round tournament not to card any hole bigger than bogey.  He was the only player to card three rounds under par. So consistent is Hill that in each round he only recorded two bogies on each round.  Consistency and persistence helped fend off challenges from as many as ten players who at some time during the tournament held lead or tied with Hill for the lead.  But each challenger fell to the steady play of Hill and his cool quiet Canadian manner contrasted to the flair of the American contingent.

            Hill’s quiet approach lead him to another quiet steady performing golf legend in meeting Jack Nicklaus.  Nicklaus was guest speaker at the Championship Dinner held after the final round on Thursday night.  The top college player as voted on by the Golf Coaches Association  is also presented the Nicklaus Award signifying the NCAA Champion.  The winner also gets a personal invitation to the final round of The Memorial Tournament, the prestigious PGA Tour event Nicklaus founded and hosts annually in Dublin, Ohio.

           

           Hill should be a shoe in for the top college player of the year.  The North Carolina State sophomore has suffered no jinx.  He has won eight of the last nine tournaments he has entered.  These are Tiger Woods dominating numbers for college golf.  In fact, he joins Tiger Woods (Stanford, 1996) as the only players since the inception of NCAA postseason regional play to finish first in his conference (co-medalist, Atlantic Coast), region (Central) and NCAA finals. He has set a school record and ACC Conference record for most wins in a year.  He was voted North Carolina State Athlete of the Year.  He has beaten all the top ranked players.  He beat 2009 Hogan Trophy winner Kyle Stanley of Clemson by two strokes.  Stanley is leaving Clemson to turn professional a year prior to his senior year.  Last week Hill beat the previous number one ranked player Mike Van Sickle of Marquette by nine strokes in the regional tournament.  Yet Hill does not seem to get the attention other players do.  Hill takes this all in stride.  As he told Golfweek “I don’t really care that much about recognition,” said Hill as he waited out a 4 1/2 hour weather delay Wednesday at Inverness. “I never really got a lot of recognition even as a junior, especially in America, and it doesn’t bother me. I just want to keep getting better and I guess the recognition will come with any success I have.”

Hill’s Coach at North Carolina Richard Sykes takes a much different approach.  “If he’s not the college player of the year, they shouldn’t have one,” Sykes said. “If you look strictly at college play this season, there’s no doubt he’s the best.” “As a college player, he’s the best N.C. State has ever had,” said Sykes, who has been at the Wolfpack helm for close to 40 years. “What he’s done this season has simply been outrageous.”  Sykes has coached three professional golfers from NC State most notable being South African highly ranked PGA player Tim Clark.

Yet, for whatever reason, Hill still seems to fall under the radar of most people, in particular those in the U.S.

Maybe it’s because he only played in three U.S. amateur tournaments last summer, and didn’t playing well in the Sunnehanna and Porter Cup. Still, he did qualify for math play at the U.S Amateur and upset Jamie Lovemark in the first round before losing to Stanford’s Shiwan Kim in the second round.  Lovemark is leaving his USC college team for the pro circuit also.

Maybe it’s because he goes about his business in a quiet, humble manner. He’s not a media quote machine, like current collegians Billy Horschel, Rickie Fowler, Brian Harman or Matthew Giles.

With his home being about a three-hour drive to Toledo, Hill had a solid group of family and friends on hand to watch, including his parents, Bob and Barb, as well as aunts and uncles.

“I’m just ecstatic,” said his father, Bob. “He’s played great golf all spring, and then to finish it off in this grand finale is pretty special. He really toughed it out all week, and right now all of us are just going to enjoy it.”