During the first quarter of State’s season-opening football game against South Carolina Thursday, Sept. 3, junior golfer Matt Hill was honored with the Haskins Award, which is given annually to the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States.

Hill received the trophy in front of over 58,000 screaming fans at Carter-Finley Stadium and joined Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and David Duval, all past winners of the Haskins Award.

“It was a pretty unbelievable feeling and a pretty big honor for me, to be in front of my teammates and all those Wolfpack fans,” Hill said. “Standing there, I had goose bumps.”

The moment was special for another reason – Hill’s teammates on the men’s golf team were on summer break when the 21-year-old from Bright’s Grove, Ontario won State’s first individual national championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio May 29.

“I didn’t really get to celebrate NCAA’s or anything else with them, so that was the first chance I got to really spend some time with them, so that was pretty cool,” Hill said.

Hill clenched the victory after he shot two under during each of the three rounds of play at the Inverness, a course which is widely considered to be one of the toughest in the United States and has hosted multiple U.S. Opens.

With the win, Hill became the second golfer in NCAA history to win conference, regional and national titles in the same year. The other was Tiger Woods, who completed the trifecta in 1996.

After the win, Hill was invited to and played in three PGA events – the AT&T National, the RBC Canadian Open and the Buick Invitational. The host of the AT&T National was none other than Woods himself.

Hill asked Pack teammate and redshirt senior Kent Copeland to caddy for him for the AT&T. After the tournament, Copeland said a calm demeanor has allowed his teammate to be so successful.

“He doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion,” Copeland said. “You’ve got to get him pretty rattled to get a reaction out of him. I think that’s one of his biggest strengths.”

Hill said he spent time with several PGA regulars, including fellow Bright’s Grove native and 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir, during the AT&T National.

“I’m fairly good friends with him,” Hill said. “We keep in touch. He’s helped me a little bit along the way.”

Though Woods hosted the AT&T tournament, for which Hill made the cut, Hill didn’t get a chance to meet him until a later date. He identifies that as one of his favorite moments of his summer.

“I met Tiger Woods at the Buick Open,” Hill said. “That was probably the coolest [moment] – just shaking his hand. I didn’t have a long conversation with him, but it was still incredible. Just getting a chance to meet him and everything he’s done for the game – I’ve sort of looked up to him, watching him on TV, winning majors every Sunday.”

Hill said his experiences on the tour were more than he expected or hoped for, with luxury cars and celebrity treatment provided each day.

However, he said the biggest perk involved was the confidence it gave him.”It was a great experience for me, to be able to get my feet wet,” Hill said. “The experience has helped me the most. Even though I didn’t do quite as well as I’d like, it’s good to know what’s out there. It also gave me confidence, because even when I’m not having my best day, I can still compete with those guys.”

Later that summer, Hill added another honor to his resume.

“I won the Ontario Amateur for the first time,” Hill said. “It was pretty nice to be able to do that in my home province.”

He received a memorable introduction to new teammate Mitchell Sutton at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship when the freshman took second place in the tournament and Hill took third.

The Pack participated in its first tournament last weekend, and though Hill surprised many over the past few years, he will now almost certainly have a target on his back throughout the regular season.

Despite his recent accomplishments, Hill said he is content to focus on the future.

“I’m not really going to think about the expectations too much,” Hill said.

Though he said life is “more or less the same” after his national championship win, Hill said there is one thing he has had to improve in addition to his game – his autograph.

“I didn’t think I’d sign as many autographs as I did,” Hill said. “Our assistant coach was giving me a hard time about it, but I think I have it pretty much down now. It’s short and easy and I’m going to keep it that way.”

Though he has had a taste of what the future could hold in store for him, for the time being, Hill says he’s wants to “keep playing well and get my schoolwork done.”

“As of right now, I’m just going to take a look at what I have coming up,” Hill said. “I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do, but as of right now my plan is to graduate.”