ELON, N.C. – Elon University men's golfer Graham Hutchinson was poised to have quite the spring season after capturing his first career individual title at the Pinehurst Intercollegiate on March 8.
 
The economics major led the field from start to finish, opening the tournament with an even-par 71 through the first 18 holes, followed by a one-under par 70 in round two before capping off the weekend with a one-over 72. Hutchinson tallied 10 birdies and parred 34 holes to finish with a six-stroke lead. Teammates Quade Lukes and Max Ferrari helped the cause with some strong play of their own: Lukes tied for second with a six-over 219, and Ferrari was one-stroke behind at seven-over 220 to tie for fifth place.
 
"Pinehurst No. 8 is definitely a tougher course," said Hutchinson. "I mean, you look at scores from tournaments there in the past and the scores are never really too low around there, so we definitely came in with the mindset that we had to put our heads down, grind it out a little bit, and just fall back on that solid decision making to just play some solid golf. We knew that we didn't have to take it too deep, but just manage our way around the course. So we got to the point where we could just make consistent decisions and solid decisions and that really helped us out a lot."
 
His third Top-10 finish of the year, the Dallas, Texas native added CAA Co-Men's Golfer of the Week honors, also a career first, as the Phoenix won the team trophy.  
And then the season came to an abrupt end with the continued spread of coronavirus.
 
"We were all starting to play well as a team," said the junior, who was tabbed the team's MVP during Elon's virtual Athletics Banquet back in May. "Obviously, we had a 20-shot victory at Pinehurst, which was pretty unbelievable, so we were coming off a lot of momentum. I think pretty much everyone on the team was starting to feel really good about their game. It was definitely a shame that it had to end there. We worked really hard through January and February, especially when we all saw that our games were going in the right direction and were definitely excited to play at East Carolina, but it was unfortunate that it had to end there."
 
With the move back home and the transition to virtual classes to wrap up the spring semester, Hutchinson and his teammates have been keeping in touch via zoom calls. The change has also afforded the opportunity to spend more time with family. It also helps that golf courses across the country have remained open.
 
"It's definitely been nice to see the family for the last three months because we would have just been coming home like a couple weeks ago. We're definitely lucky as golfers that we can be out there and play on a daily basis. A lot of people in other sports haven't been able to do that really. But now everyone's been able to get out and play some golf since all the courses are open. It's definitely been interesting, but we've been really lucky to get out there and keep our games sharp for the fall. To still be able to go out and play, to be able to keep that that competitive mindset sharp, you're not just sitting around the house. The only real way to improve your mental game and keep it solid is to be out there playing golf, so we've definitely been lucky from the standpoint that we're able to go out there and compete with our friends and keep that mentality sharp. But 80 percent of the game is mental and it's really important to keep that competitive edge and keep that golfing mind sharp so that, come this fall, we pick back up where we left off."
 
With the opportunity to continue to practice and compete during the offseason, the rising senior is hoping to continue his strong play when the team returns to campus this fall.
 
"[The 20-shot victory and individual win] put me in the mindset that we want to piggyback off of that success and just continue to rise and keep playing good golf. It's definitely encouraged me to get out there and practice harder and harder and just keep that competitive edge. I'm hoping that most of our guys have the same feeling because we came off of a big confidence booster and it should definitely motivate guys to keep working and keep trying to get better so we can piggyback off of that good play. I think Max, Quade and I especially had a good year last year. Just kind of feeling out that leadership position and what it takes and what we've got to show the younger guys as far as just being punctual, just being on time everywhere, working hard, and keeping that solid work ethic. It's going to be even more important coming into this year because we just got some more young guys on the team."
 
The challenging circumstances due to the pandemic have also fostered an appreciation for the ability to play golf at Elon. "It has given us all a much better perspective of things in this world. We've just got to not take our lives for granted, not take things too seriously, and feel lucky and blessed to be a college golfer at Elon. It's kind of opened up my eyes a little bit and it's been nice."
 
Hutchinson is back in action this week as he returns to Pinehurst to compete in the North & South Amateur, to be played on the No. 2 and No. 4 courses beginning this Saturday, June 27.
 
"The field has got to be one of the best fields that they've had in years: a lot of top ranked players, a couple Top-10 ranked college players. So it's going to be a really tough field and I'm excited for that challenge."
 
After that, Hutchinson will play in the Chattanooga Choo Choo Invitational at Council Fire Golf Club on July 27-29 before heading to The Landings Club in Savannah, Ga. for the Oglethorpe Invitational on Aug. 2-4.