PC sweeps Big South Awards, Addison is Coach of the Year, Patrick is Player of the Year

By Stan Olenik Editor-Publisher, The Golf Club

Last year, long-time Presbyterian College golf coach Thomas Addison and Big South individual champion Jeep Patrick got a taste of NCAA postseason golf.

They were there at the Auburn Regional, taking in the experience, trying to play their best — and realizing just how big the stage could be.

But even in the middle of it, there was something missing.

“It would have been even better if the whole team was here,” Patrick told his coach.

A year later, they are.

This time, Addison and Patrick aren’t going alone.

They’re bringing the entire team with them.

Presbyterian earned its first NCAA Regional berth as a team by winning the Big South Match Play Championship, knocking off High Point and defending champion USC Upstate to extend its season.

For a program like Presbyterian College, that moment carries a little extra weight.

Known simply as PC around South Carolina, the school is one of the smallest NCAA Division I programs in the country.

The Blue Hose have built their reputation less on championships and more on consistency — producing solid players and graduates who move on to success beyond the course.

The golf program has followed that same path.

Under the guidance of the Addison family — first his father Tommy for 13 years, and now Addison since 2005 — PC has long been respected within the state’s golf circles, even if the wins didn’t always follow.

“It’s a very special place,” he said. “It’s more than a job to me because I get to follow in my dad’s footsteps.”

The breakthrough from a good team to a conference champion didn’t come out of nowhere.

Presbyterian earned the No. 1 seed after stroke play and then had to fight its way through match play to finish the job.

In the opening round, PC dropped the first two matches before winning the final three to advance — a sign early that this wasn’t going to come easy.

One of the defining moments came from Spence Hagood, who faced a decision late in his match.

From more than 250 yards to a green protected by a front bunker, he chose to take on a 3-wood rather than lay back — a shot Addison would later call one of the best he had ever seen.

It flew the bunker, landed just a few feet from the hole and effectively sealed the match.

“He looked at me and said, ‘That’s the best golf shot I’ve ever hit in my life,’” Addison said.

Moments like that carried Presbyterian through a tight bracket and into the NCAA field.

There’s something else about this team that makes the run stand out.

Patrick and Hagood ‘s efforts were supported by Richard Anaclerio, Gage Gaskins and James Rhodes. All five PCgolfers are products of Palmetto State high schools and the South Carolina Golf Association Junior programs.

Players who had success along the way.
Players who had their moments.

Maybe not always at the right time, or on the biggest stages, but good players nonetheless.

“They’ve all had success,” Addison said. “They’ve just kept working, and the last couple of weeks, some guys really stepped up and posted numbers that helped us get to where we needed to be.”

It showed when it mattered most.

Last year gave Addison and Patrick a glimpse of what the postseason looks like.

Regional assignments will be announced next week, but the Blue Hose are in — not just one player, but the entire team.

There will be time to take it in — to collect memories and enjoy the chance to play on a big stage.

But the Blue Hose aren’t going just to look around.

They’re taking their clubs.

“We’re not going up there to lay up,” Addison said. “We’re going to give it a go and see what happens.”

It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.

A good team that played great when it mattered.

And now, for the first time, Presbyterian is going to the NCAA Regional as a team.

Scores from the Match Play Big South Championship are available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/242781/scoring/round

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