A golf team’s van crashed in Texas. The two survivors carry the legacy of their teammates

More than four years later, Dayton Price and Hayden Underhill remember little about the crash that claimed the lives of six teammates and their golf coach at the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, N.M. Critically injured, the young men from Ontario were the only ones to survive.

Each woke up in hospitals in Lubbock, Tex., Price with third-degree burns over 60 per cent of his body, Underhill with a traumatic brain injury.

When he came to, Price asked his father, Darren, what happened, and then asked about his teammates.

“Telling him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,” Darren Price said.

Right after that, the father of one of the other team members, Laci Stone, entered the room.

“I was crying,” Price said. “I said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry that your daughter has passed away,’ a million times. He stood there, and then told me I was a warrior.”

Underhill was ejected from the golf team’s van and landed 65 feet away. He awoke from a coma the following week in a neurological centre. He was confused.

“My parents tried to explain it to me,” Underhill said. “They delivered it as softly as they could. They had to tell me a couple of times. A lot of it didn’t seem real. I didn’t really comprehend what happened.”

While he was in the hospital, he watched a PGA Tour event on television. They showed a brief segment on the crash.

“That’s when it hit me that it was real instead of some screwed up nightmare,” Underhill said.

Price is 23, grew up in Mississauga and moved to Hamilton with his family in 2023. Underhill is 24 and is from Napanee, near Kingston. Both grew up playing hockey but as they got older turned their interest to golf. They played against one another in tournaments and became friends.

It was a coincidence, however, that each received a scholarship to play golf at the University of the Southwest, a small private Christian school that competes at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics level. Both aspired to become professionals.

For them to even have a chance at that, they had to survive.

The crash occurred shortly before dark on March 15, 2022, on a rural road with one lane in each direction in Andrews County, Tex. At the time, the road was dry and the weather was clear.

The team was returning to its campus in southeastern New Mexico from a tournament in Midland, Tex., where the men’s and women’s teams had played 36 holes that day. It is about a 160-kilometre trip each way.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which conducted an investigation, the driver of a pickup truck crossed the centre line and collided nearly headfirst with the school van. A toxicology report showed that the truck’s driver, who died along with his 13-year-old son, had methamphetamine in his blood stream and was likely impaired.

He was estimated to be travelling at between 85 and 110 miles per hour when the crash occurred. The posted speed limit is 75 mph. According to investigators the van was travelling at 55 to 70 mph.

According to the NTSB report, in the 10 years before the crash, the truck’s driver was cited for 23 traffic violations, 10 of which were related to driving without a licence or with a suspended licence, and nine of which were for speeding. One of the speeding violations involved travelling 105 mph in a 75 mph zone.

It wasn’t until 1:45 a.m. that Ornella and Darren Price received a call from the school that is every parent’s nightmare: There was an accident and your son is gravely injured. When Ornella hung up the phone, Darren, a hockey coach and former referee in the Ontario and American Hockey Leagues, was on his knees praying at the foot of the bed. They woke up Dayton’s younger sister, Noella.

Ken Underhill, a firefighter, was on his way to work when he received the call. He returned home and broke the news to his wife and Hayden’s older brother. Both families began a frantic journey to get to their son’s bedside.

The Price family booked a flight at 6:45 a.m. to west Texas. The airport in Toronto was chaotic. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic and it was also March Break.

Hundreds of people were waiting in line at customs and immigration. Ornella went to a supervisor and explained their situation to him with tears in her eyes. He allowed them to bypass the line and took them directly to the gate.

They had to connect in Dallas to get to Lubbock.

“It was awful,” Darren recalls. “There were tons of bars and TVs everywhere in the airport so we saw images of the accident. It was horrific.”

They were booked on a later flight but the airline placed them on standby for one that was sooner.

They had a 90-minute layover and repeatedly called the hospital to check on Dayton’s condition.

“It was the worst hour and a half of my life,” Ornella said.

When they went to leave, there was only one seat available so Ornella went first and Darren and Noella followed later.

“I got on that plane not knowing if I would find my son alive or what condition he was in,” she said.

When she arrived at the University Medical Center, she was greeted by two nurses as she burst through the front door. They walked her to the burn unit each holding her by one arm.

One of the first things she saw was a wound tank room where burn patients are taken for treatment. In there, nurses blast loud music so patients’ screams can’t be heard.

When she got to his room, Dayton was covered in bandages but she let him know she was there. She was afraid to touch him in case it hurt too much. His burns were so terrible there was very little skin left on his legs.

Even if he lived, he was told they might have to be amputated.

“I cried to my father that my body was destroyed,” Price said.

Trapped in a van engulfed in flames, Dayton punched a window out and in doing so broke his arm. He was able to crawl away from the accident site but a witness said he then tried to crawl back to it to help his teammates. He couldn’t because the heat was too intense. He also had a fractured orbital bone.

“The last memory I have gets blurry,” Price said.

Underhill believes he was launched from the van when the sliding door opened as the vehicle spun around. He was flown by helicopter to the Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, very near the medical centre to which Price was flown. Underhill was initially placed on life support. Besides a traumatic brain injury he had multiple fractures to his face and a broken ankle.

Price spent 60 days in the burn unit. Underhill was discharged first and immediately went to visit his teammate. He helped to feed Dayton.

“We got to spend some time together,” Underhill said. “We didn’t talk about what happened. We just had a few laughs which is what we both needed at the time.”

In total, Dayton Price spent nearly three months in the hospital and in rehab. He has undergone surgery 30 times and has another operation scheduled for the fall. There will be others after that.

His rehab specialist in Lubbock was a golfer so they would chat about it during his sessions. On May 30, 2022, Derek Pfeiffer surprised him by taking him to Texas Tech University’s home golf course.

“It really helped me,” Price said. “It was hard because I had been seeing the same four walls and people every day. It was cool not only to see a change in scenery but it meant so much to me.”

Pfeiffer walked beside him because Price’s gait was unsteady. He chipped short shots – 10 metres or less – and practised putting.

“It was a very brief session but it made me feel like I could still do this,” Price said.

It was eight months from the date of the accident until he was back on a course again.

“I wouldn’t call it playing,” Price recalled. “It wasn’t what I was used to. I thought I would play a million holes but I only played two. I was just so tired.”

He played in his first tournament on Dec. 27, 2022, in Innisbrook, Fla. He shot a two-over-par 73 in the first round and after 72 holes finished second overall.

“I did surprise myself,” he said. “You want to say you have no expectations, that I shouldn’t be playing golf and shouldn’t be alive. But I am a competitive person and worked my butt off to a point where I could do this again.

“My whole family was there and so were some of my friends. I played really well. I wasn’t doing it for myself. I also was doing it for my teammates and their families as well.”

As he walked onto the 18th green he looked skyward and thanked God for helping him.

“I had dreamed about it for eight months,” Price said. “People don’t know the extent of how hard it was to overcome.”

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Price reached out last year to Jeff Colley, the golf coach at Wilfrid Laurier University. Colley knew of Price because they were both members at the Whistle Bear Golf Course in Cambridge, Ont.

“He is my top golfer for sure,” Colley said. “The first thing that comes to mind about him is his determination and perseverance. He went through a mental and physical grind for months and months.”

In 2025-2026, his first season playing at Wilfrid Laurier, Price won four events and set a school record for the lowest single-day round with an eight-under-par 63. The team also won the Ontario University Association championship and he was chosen its rookie of the year and most valuable player.

During the practice round the day before the provincial tournament, Dayton walked the course for 18 holes with his teammates.

At one point he asked Colley, who was following the players in a cart, if he could put his clubs in the back.

“I told him he didn’t have to walk the entire way but he refused to get in,” Colley said. “He wanted to do the same things as everyone else.”

Afterward Colley watched him take his golf shoes off. Price’s socks were a bloody mess. The bottom of his feet were burned.

“I deal with athletes on a daily basis,” his father, Darren, said. “It is unbelievable how he has fought through everything. A lot of others may have taken a different path.”

Underhill played for four years at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He plays a couple of rounds a week and will compete at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship in Wisconsin later this month.

For him, golf is both recreation and therapy.

“It’s my happy place,” he said. “It is definitely the biggest thing for me. Whether it’s a fun round or a tournament round, I carry my teammates’ legacy with me.”

He and Price try to play together a couple times each summer.

“Everything about it is inspiring,” Underhill said. “Both of us have been able to play competitively. It’s awesome.”

In May, Price played in a PGA Americas Tour event in Quito, Ecuador. He carded a 156 and missed the cut after two rounds.

“I’m always dissatisfied when I play but I did compete and it gave me a nice sense of accomplishment,” he said. “Whether I shot 85 or 73 I would have felt the same way.”

He hopes to qualify to play on the PGA Tour next year.

“I am amazed and proud and many other wonderful things,” Ornella Price said. “It has been an incredible ride. He is incredibly motivated despite all the pain and suffering.”

Dayton has another life outside of golf now. He works with and consoles other burn patients. Last year he was the keynote speaker at a fundraising event at the hospital where he was treated in Lubbock.

With his help, US$1.2-million was raised. The family has hosted a Price Strong Golf Tournament for each of the three past years with $20,000 donated to Ronald McDonald House and burn survivor groups.

This year’s event will take place at Whistle Bear on Sept. 28.

“Remembering my teammates is what matters to me the most,” Price said. “It means the world to me.”