Eric Ecker, Men’s Golf – University of South Carolina Athletics

The 2023 Class of the USC Association of Lettermen’s Hall of Fame will be inducted on Thursday, October 12. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets!

Growing up in Minnesota, Eric Ecker once dreamed of playing hockey at the University of Minnesota. Fortunately, he also played golf, and now he is one of eight inductees for the 2023 Class of the University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame after a stellar career for the Gamecocks from 1995-2000.

“I played golf in the summer, so as soon as courses were open, we played non-stop,” said Ecker, who now lives in Springfield, Missouri and works in transportation management for FLS Transportation. “I had a really good junior career and was fortunate enough to get on the radar at South Carolina. Golf just started really taking off for me, so from then on, I was full-on with golf.”

Ecker helped the Gamecocks climb to as high as number three in the national rankings. As a sophomore, he helped the Gamecocks to the 1998 Southeastern Conference title, earned first-team All-SEC honors and was an All-American. As a junior in 1999, he again earned first-team All-SEC and All-America honors and was selected for the US/Japan Cup matches. As a senior in 2000, he earned second-team All-SEC honors and finished his collegiate career playing in the most competitive rounds in USC school history. He garnered 26 Top-10 finishes throughout his collegiate career and posted a career scoring average of 72.1, and now he can add “Hall of Famer” to his accolades.

“I was obviously surprised when I found out, but at the same time, super proud not only of what I did at South Carolina as an individual athlete, but after reflecting back on the team, it was one of the best experiences of my life,” Ecker said. “I still draw on some of those things today. Puggy (Blackmon) was outstanding as a coach.”

Ecker redshirted as a freshman, and that turned out to be good for him.

“It was a bit of a challenge for me, not knowing anybody and just trying to find my way. I wasn’t breaking the top five in the lineup, and Puggy took the pressure off by redshirting me. That helped me learn how to be on my own and how to play better competition. That led me to really growing physically and mentally.

“Our team was really good. Puggy changed the trajectory of the program. To be a part of his first class was really special to me. We had a lot of really good things going on. It was so fun and rewarding. All of…