Eric Henderson, Mitch Hubbard, Trent Baar and Matt MacArthur traveled down to South Carolina with their discs and a change of clothes.

They came back with embroidered jackets, a trophy and a world record.

The crew of four represented Grand Valley State at the National Collegiate Disc Golf Championships from Apr. 15-19 in North Augusta, S.C. The Lakers didn’t disappoint, managing to bring home a first place finish in the Hott Shotts putting competition.

Hubbard, the Laker captain, set a world record in the Hott Shotts competition, recording a score of 955 out of a possible 1,000 points in the event and beating out traveling professional Paul McBeth.

The Hott Shotts competition is considered a major event in disc golf circles. GVSU made a huge push at nationals and took home the first place prize with the top score in the nation.

“I woke up not thinking I was gong to win something like that,” Hubbard said. “It was super exciting because I had beaten a three-time world champion in Paul McBeth.

“It was also exciting to win as a team even because my friends could share in the win.”

Hubbard is looking to get in contact with Guinness World Records to make his record official.

Upon winning the team Hott Shotts competition, the GVSU disc golfers were awarded a trophy, and each member received an embroidered jacket to commemorate the performance.

“This is classified as a major event, so to see all this work from the club and then to win the event was great,” Henderson said.

During the overall team event, the Lakers, in their second year as a program, finished in 24^th place among a field of 61 teams from across the nation. GVSU squared off with the likes Oregon, Nevada-Reno and Ferris State – the latter of whom took home the national championship.

2015 marked the first year GVSU has been to nationals. The team element of the competition was similar to doubles in golf, with pairs of disc golfers taking on odd or even holes.

After a solid showing in the team play, the Lakers had hopes for a high finish. Then the individual play took hold.

“All-in-all it was alright,” Baar said. “We played well as a team, but individual rounds were below average scores, so that dropped us a handful of spots.”

Baar was the top performer for GVSU, finishing tied for 77^th place in the nation.

“I played above my average level, so I competed with the top players there,” he said. “I was in the top 10 after the first individual round, then fell a little after that, but it was still a cool finish.”

Henderson said that competing in South Carolina was great for the disc golf team, and they were able to use their strengths to finish well.

“I’ve been discing with some of the guys for a while, so we used our abilities, allowing our players to do well, “ Henderson said. “We strategized who played each hole, which gave us tons of opportunity.”

Overall, the Lakers were happy with the chance to compete at the national championships for the first time in school history.

“Nationals was done professionally with clinics and sponsors,” Henderson said. “There was a lot of energy out there, we were able to meet a lot of people, and it turned out to be a great time.”