When members of the 2017-18 Husson University men's golf team look back on their historic season, the championships and accolades are impossible to overlook.

But for Gavin Dugas and Eric Dugas, what made that group special went beyond the trophies.

It was the competition among teammates, the friendships developed on the road and a shared expectation that every time the Eagles stepped onto the course, they were there to win.

That combination helped produce one of the greatest seasons in Husson men's golf history and ultimately earned the 2017-18 Eagles a place in the Husson Sports Hall of Fame.

The accomplishments from that season speak for themselves. Husson captured the North Atlantic Conference Championship, New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship and Maine State Championship, while winning every tournament it competed in during the fall and defeating Saint Joseph's College of Maine in a head-to-head matchup. The Eagles carried that success into the spring, winning the Johnson & Wales Wildcat Spring Invitational and finishing second at the prestigious Camp LeJeune Intercollegiate Championship.

For Gavin Dugas, some of the best memories came from traveling with a group that continually showed it could succeed wherever it played.

"The best memories came from traveling with the team to different states, continuing to have success and winning those events," Gavin said. "We proved that we could not just compete at a state level but also at a regional and national level."



That success was evident throughout the lineup.

All five members of Husson's varsity squad earned NAC All-Conference honors. Gavin was named Conference Golfer of the Year, while Eric earned Conference Rookie of the Year honors. Eric, Mackenzie Clow and Daulton Wickenden were also named Division III PING All-Region selections, with Eric adding Division III All-America Honorable Mention recognition. 

Eric remembers the Eagles' sweep of the conference honors as one of the moments that defined the season, along with what Husson accomplished on the New England stage.

"There are a couple things that come to mind when I think back on the 17-18 team," Eric said. "One is when we swept all-conference honors and won Rookie, Player and Coach of the Year. The second is when we won the overall championship at the NEIGA, beating both Division II and Division III schools."

The talent at the top of Husson's lineup was only part of what made the Eagles so successful. Just as important was the depth behind it.

Earning a spot in the traveling lineup was a competition of its own, and Gavin remembers that internal pressure playing an important role in keeping everyone sharp throughout the season.

"Keys to our success came from having such a deep roster," Gavin said. "We had a target score each week and if you didn't shoot it, you had to qualify for the next event. This kept everyone that wanted to travel sharp. You never knew when you may be the next guy up."

That meant competition did not begin when Husson arrived at a tournament. It was already happening every day at practice.

"A lot of the qualifying rounds were just as hard as playing in events because of the talent throughout the team," Gavin said.



Eric felt the same pressure to continually improve, even after establishing himself as one of the top players in the lineup.

"You knew with such a deep roster that someone was always practicing hard trying to fight their way into the top five," Eric said. "So it pushed me to practice more so I could keep my spot in the top five."

Even routine practice sessions became competitions. Whether players were trying to be the first to hit the 150-yard marker on the range or battling in putting contests, Eric remembers a group that found ways to push one another.

"Everyone always shared a common goal and that goal was winning," he said.

That mentality translated into a team that rarely had to rely on one golfer to carry the load.

"The ability to know if you didn't have your best game that day, you knew you had four other guys that were there to pick you up," Eric said. "Also being such a tight-knit group, we all pushed each other to be the best we could."

The Eagles eventually had the opportunity to test that depth on the biggest stage in Division III golf.

Husson tied for 19th at the NCAA Division III Championship, missing the team cut by just one stroke. Despite falling agonizingly short of advancing, the performance remains the highest NCAA Championship finish in program history.

For a group that had spent the season raising expectations, simply reaching nationals was not enough.

"Going into Nationals we knew we had the talent to make the cut, something that has never been done in Husson history," Eric said. "Which pushed us to want to be the first to ever do it."



Coming within one stroke could have created an easy opportunity to point to a single shot or player. Instead, Eric remembers a team that responded collectively.

"Ultimately we fell one shot short of making the cut, but the blame was never put on one player," he said. "We all blamed ourselves, talking about how we could have shaved a stroke here or a stroke there."

Gavin credits head coach Mike Dugas and the coaching staff with building a roster capable of challenging the program's previous standards.

"The coaching staff had a lot to do with allowing us to push the limits of the teams' prior success," Gavin said. "They did a great job with recruiting, giving us the best chance possible to compete at any level."

The numbers reinforce just how exceptional the group was. The 2017-18 Eagles posted a four-player scoring average of 302.73, the third-best single-season mark in program history at the time of their induction. The team also ranked tied for seventh in program history for tournament victories in a season and owned the lowest 36-hole team score by a four-player team. 

Individually, Gavin's career would include GCAA All-New England, NEIGA All-New England and Maine Intercollegiate All-State honors in both 2018 and 2019, while his 2018 season included four tournament victories, six top-five finishes and eight top-10 performances.

Yet years later, the lasting legacy of the 2017-18 team is about more than scores and championships.

"The tight-knit group that traveled to most events became not only teammates but great friends," Gavin said. "That pushed each one of us to be the best golfers we could."



It was a group deep enough to turn qualifying rounds into tournament-level competition, talented enough to win championships across Maine and New England and confident enough to believe it belonged alongside the best teams in the country.

Now, the 2017-18 Husson men's golf team can add one more accomplishment to an already historic résumé — a place in the Husson Sports Hall of Fame.