JACKSON SANDHOFF

CHAUTAUQUA — After a rainy start to the third round of the NJCAA Golf Championships at Chautauqua Golf Club on Thursday, the weather heated up, and so did the scores for Jamestown Community College.

And, as has been the case all week, Sandhills CC remained white hot.

The North Carolina school shot a 6-under 282 on the Lake Course for a three-day total of 853, 33 shots better than second-place Georgia Military College. College of DuPage is third at 914, SUNY Niagara is fourth at 955 and Minnesota State Community & Technical College is fifth at 972.

Sandhills CC has four players in the top 10, led by leader Daniel Aitken, whose even-par 72 puts him at 211 for the tournament, one shot better than teammate Ben Read. Brady Wentz of Georgia Military College, who fired a 68 for the low round of the day, is third at 216; Watcharakan Chankarn of Sandhills CC is fourth at 217; Patrick Murray of UCNJ Union College is fifth at 218; Anthony Regimand of College of DuPage is sixth at 220; Liam Harris of Sandhills CC and Gehrig Massey of Georgia Military College are tied for seventh at 221; Ross Tetrault of Georgia Military College is ninth at 223; and Joey Manginelli of Ulster CC is 10th at 224.

The host Jayhawks shot a season-best round of 328 to find themselves in eighth place. Sophomore Brady Fye had the round of the day for Jamestown CC with a 77. The most impressive feat came from freshman and Lakewood native Spencer Bell, who shot his season-best 81.

“It was a lot of fun out there, finally,” he said. “It felt good to get a good round in. I was putting in scores I didn’t like, so it felt good to do it once.”

What changed for Bell when it came to such a great performance?

“I changed the balls to Pro-V 1s, and that was the difference today,” he said with a laugh.

South African Maxim Johnson followed up his personal-best round on Day 2 by going two strokes lower with an 86.

“Much better than yesterday, and yesterday went really well for me,” he said. “I think the weather helped us out. It was hotter today, so the ball was flying further, so I missed some distances. It was all out a pretty good day for me.”.

The first Jayhawk to tee off on the day was Jackson Sandhoff, who carded an 84.

The aforementioned rain caused a two-hour delay for the event, which aided in a slow start for a few Jamestown CC golfers.

“First three holes, I was trying to get warm again. I was ready at 6:30 this morning to tee off, then we teed off at 11 o’clock. It kind of set me back a little bit, but I managed to pull it back a little bit and locked in,” said Johnson.

For others, a few extra hours of sleep was a welcome respite.

“It felt really good to sleep in. I woke up feeling nice and refreshed after an extra two hours,” noted Bell.

With a shot at a top five in the cards, the Jayhawks feel pretty good heading into the final round.

“I’m feeling pretty good. I have my confidence up now, so hopefully I can do good again tomorrow,” said Bell.

For more information on the tournament, go to the event homepage on the JCC Jayhawks’ website.

WOMEN

Ellia Soydara of Minnesota State Community & Technical College remained in the lead after shooting an 81 for a three-day total of 241, two shots better than Ivy Burnett of the College of DuPage. Haley Cassells, also of the College of DuPage, is three shots back at 244; and Megan Redig of Rock Valley College is fourth at 249.

Medalist for the round was Cassells with an 8-over 80.