SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Wade and Evans from UD Men's Golf
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- For the next two weeks, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) will recognize and honor all of its senior spring sport student-athletes who had their final seasons cut short by the COVID-19 outbreak.
After the NCAA made the unprecedented decision on Thursday, March 12 to cancel all winter and spring championships due to the coronavirus pandemic, the SCAC Presidents Council decided to indefinitely suspend all regular season conference and non-conference competition.
"This was a heartbreaking decision we had to make," said SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "No one wanted it to come to this, but at the end of the day we are tasked with prioritizing the health and well-being of thousands of students and student-athletes on each of our campuses. That has to to be the focus above all else."
Although the league held out hope that by only suspending play a window of opportunity may present itself for an abbreviated spring season with some form of tournament play the following month, with the virus continuing to spread throughout the country which has caused campuses who had originally hoped to remain open to close for the semester, the 2020 athletics season has effectively ended for over a thousand of the league's spring sport student-athletes along with the careers of 100+ seniors.
And even though some of the league's student-athletes may take advantage of a blanket waiver that would grant an additional season of participation, the SCAC office would like to honor and recognize all of its spring sport senior student athletes.
The SCAC began its spotlight on Monday with the league's men's golf seniors. Included in this group from the University of Dallas was two golfers in Erik Hamm (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Jacob Wade (Magnolia, Texas).
The duo joined the UD golf program in 2016-17 when head coach Garrett Smith spent his first complete season at the helm. The Crusaders rose from the bottom of the SCAC Tournament rankings to breaking individual and team records on multiple occasions over the next seasons thanks to these two contributing to the turnaround. The peak of success occurred at the 2019 SCAC Men's Golf Championship with UD capturing its first title in history and the first team SCAC title for the school. Hamm and Wade were instrumental with Hamm tied for 2nd and Wade tied for 6th. Each earned all-conference honors and have two total in their collegiate careers.
Wade is a four-year letterwinner who appeared in 36 tournaments and logged 80 rounds in his four years with Dallas. His average score was 77.81 and he finished even or better than par in nine career tournaments. Wade's best individual season was in 2017-18, where he garnered the MVP and was a top performer multiple times with a quartet of top-four individual finals. Wade shot a personal low 69 in one round to match the Low Round Record at that time. Wade is majoring in Economics and Finance.
Hamm is a three-year letterwinner and has made 28 tournament appearances and played 63 rounds. The 2020 MVP had a 76.56 average score and played four tournaments even or better. He notched top-10 individual places in the last two tournaments in 2018-19, including that SCAC Championship result. Hamm won the Hendrix College Dual in his rookie campaign of 2016-17. Hamm remains one-of-two active players on the UD roster to own an individual victory in the record books. Hamm carded his best score in a round in the fall of 2019 with a 68, which aided in being tied 3rd at the John Bohmann Memorial Invitational. Hamm is majoring in business.
Thank you Wade and Hamm for your commitment to the University of Dallas men's golf team over the last four seasons, and we wish you success on your future endeavors.