The University of Tennessee announced in November 2014 that Hugo Bernard had signed a national letter of intent to be a UT golfer beginning in the fall of 2015.
But Bernard never did become a Vol. “I had some issue with the NCAA, so I wasn’t eligible for DI,” he said Thursday. But that very well may have turned out for the best as far as Bernard is concerned.
After all, in the wake of getting a recruiting call from friend Joey Savoie, a fellow resident of Quebec, Canada who was playing college golf for Saint Leo in Florida, Bernard came to the NCAA Division II program. And after not playing in the fall — more NCAA issues, he said — he came on like gangbusters in the spring, culminated by him winning the NCAA DII individual national title on Thursday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver.
And he not only won, but he set a DII championship 54-hole scoring record in the process, finishing at 13-under-par 203 (65-66-72). The record he broke had been held by two locals, Coloradan Jim Knous and Cheyenne product Josh Creel, who both were 10 under in 2012. But Bernard did it all as a freshman.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I’m pretty confident about my abilities, so I don’t care if I’m a freshman or sophomore or whatever.”
Indeed, before ever competing in college golf, Bernard won a professional mini-tour event in Florida and finished runner-up in the 2015 Canadian Men’s Amateur.
And in his one semester of college golf at Saint Leo, he’s played well enough to rank 21st among all college players in the nation, Division I included, according to Golfstat. Just since the beginning of March, he’s had six top-four individual finishes, including two wins and a national DII title.
“I’m pretty happy, pretty proud of myself,” he said on Thursday. “I was nervous this morning, but I knew if I played well and stayed patient, my chances were good, so that’s what I did.”
The left-hander played the par-5s at GVR in 9 under par for three rounds — despite bogeying the final hole on Thursday — and led the tournament wire-to-wire. After taking a four-shot lead into the final round, he was never caught on day 3 despite a rather routine two-birdie, two-bogey 72.
Calum Hill of Western New Mexico, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year, closed with a bogey-free 67 to place second at 205. Griffin Brown of Limestone College finished third at 206. In all, 26 players ended up under par for 54 holes. (Hill and Brown are pictured together, with Hill at right.)
“I hit it absurdly well today,” said Hill, a Scot who has had two individual wins to his credit this spring. “I just didn’t hole many putts. The only putts I holed were inside 8 feet. I hit it close a lot. I hit 16 greens and had 32 putts.
“It would have been nice to get one (place) better. But I figured unless I shot something like 9 under (in round 3), it wouldn’t really be within my reach. I was just going out there to have fun today and see if I could finish off my career as a Mustang well.”
Meanwhile, after Thursday’s third and final round of straight stroke play, the top eight teams advanced to the medal-match play portion of the event.
The teams still alive for the national team title are, in order of stroke-play finish: Saint Leo, Chico State, Florida Southern, Lynn, Barry, California Baptist, West Florida and Wilmington. While Saint Leo easily broke the NCAA DII Championships 54-hole scoring record — by 10 with a 26-under-par total — the final teams which advanced went right down to the wire on Thursday. California Baptist finished at 863, West Florida at 864 and Wilmington at 866 to move on, while Central Oklahoma (867) and Dallas Baptist (868) were edged out of the top eight.
In Friday morning’s quarterfinals, it will be Saint Leo vs. Wilmington, Lynn vs. Barry, Chico State vs. West Florida, and Florida Southern vs. California Baptist. The winners will square off in the semifinals Friday afternoon. The title match will be held Saturday morning.
The men’s tourney — and the women’s DII finals at CommonGround Golf Course — are part of the NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in which titles in six sports (M&W golf, M&W tennis, softball and women’s lacrosse) will be decided.
Tickets for the DII National Festival are $5 per person per day, or $15 for an all-session pass for the week. Tickets purchased at one site will be valid at all other competition sites.
For more information on the Spring Sports Festival, CLICK HERE.
For scores from the men’s tournament, CLICK HERE.
