Elon Men’s Golf Welcomes Three Newcomers for 2018-19 Season

ELON, N.C. – Elon University men’s golf will bring in three newcomers for the upcoming 2018-19 season. Joining head coach Don Hill’s program will be Dawson Daniels (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian Academy), Cristian Del Vecchio (Oyster Bay, N.Y./Friends Academy) and Josef Dransfeld (Huntington, W.Va./Cabell Midland).

“We are thrilled that these three have chosen to join the Elon golf program,” said Hill. “Cristian, Dawson and Josef all have great junior resumes and are starting to excel at the amateur level. This playing experience will prepare them well as they enter their first year at Elon. We expect positive contributions from all three players in the upcoming season.”

Daniels, who is from nearby Greensboro, N.C., arrives from High Point Christian Academy. While playing for the Cougars, Daniels was a four-time All-Conference selection and helped lead the team to a PACIS Conference Championship as a senior in 2018. Daniels has also shown a lot of success at the junior level, winning the 2017 Coastal Plains Junior Amateur, the 2017 High Point Junior Championship, placed seventh at the 2017 CGA Dogwood State Boys’ Championship and earned a seventh-place finish at the 2017 TYGA Triad Bill Harvey Memorial Junior tournament. He was also named Golfer of the Year in Greensboro for the 2018 season.

Del Vecchio joins the Elon program after just earning a spot as a second alternate for the 2018 U.S. Amateur Championships. He will be selected if others who have qualified drop out of the tournament. Del Vecchio had a successful high school career at Friends Academy, where he helped lead the squad to a state title and two county championships in four years. Individually, he earned a top-10 finish at the state championships and also had a runner-up finish at the county championships. At the junior level, Del Vecchio has competed and had success in challenging tournaments, which included a third-place finish at the 2017 AJGA New Era Junior Championship and an eighth-place spot at the 2018 Metropolitan PGA Future Series tournament.

Dransfeld, who just qualified for the 2018 U.S. Amateur Championships, joins the Phoenix program from Cabell Midland High School. He earned All-State honors in all four years with the program and led Cabell Midland to state championship in 2016-17. Outside of qualifying for the U.S. Amateur at the junior level, Dransfeld also won the 2015 Junior All-Star Invitational in Oregon. Dransfeld enters Elon after a strong academic career at Cabell Midland, as he graduated with high honors, which is given to students with a 3.85 GPA or above.