Flyers One Back after Day Two in Chautauqua
The Sandhills Community College men's golf team heads into Thursday's third round of the NJCAA Division III Championship trailing first place Georgia Military College by a single stroke.
The Flyers' Andreas Huber, 73, and Nick Agapion, 74, posted two of the lowest scores on Wednesday at the Donald Ross-designed Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Course in Chautauqua, NY.
A 75 by Adam Hathaway and a 78 by Carson Witherspoon completed the Flyers' team score of 300. Also for Coach Gus Ulrich's squad, Andrew Crawford posted an 83.
The Flyers' two-day total in the 72-hole event that concludes on Friday is 304-300-604. Defending champion Georgia Military, 303-300-603, replaced first-round leader Minnesota State Tech at the top. The latter trails by 10 strokes after scores of 301-312-613.
At even-par, Huber (71-73-144) leads Dylan Humphries of Georgia Military (73-73-146) by two strokes in the competition for individual honors. Agapion, 76-74-150, is tied for fifth place.
The Flyers begin teeing off at 9 a.m. on Friday. Ulrich thinks it's going to take a team score in the mid to low 290's on one of the final two days to capture the golf program's second national title in men's golf.
"I think we're in a good position going into the third round," he said by phone. "We were close to playing really good golf today. We made some sloppy mistakes that we need to clean up.
"The guys seem to be getting comfortable with the course and I'm encouraged by where we stand."
Witherspoon leads the field in par 4 scoring (4.19) and Huber leads in par 5 scoring (4.40) and in birdies (11).
Team scores – 1. Georgia Military 303-300-603, 2. Sandhills CC 304-300-604, 3. Minnesota State 301-312-613, 4. DuPage 326-316-642, 5. Niagara County 318-336-654, 6. Delta CC 347-344-691, 7. Jefferson CC 343-349-692, 8. Jamestown CC 382-363-745; Individual leaders – 1. Huber (SCC) 71-73-144, 2. Humphries (GMC) 73-73-146, Tie 3. Blomseth (MN) 73-76-149, Tie 3. Thayer (GMC) 75-74-149, Tie 5. Agapion (SCC) 76-74-150, Tie 5 Quillian (GMC) 76-74-150, 7. Hyman (Niagara) 76-76-152, 8. Inniger (MN) 74-79-153, Tie 9. Hathaway (SCC) 79-75-154, Tie 9 Justesen (MN) 75-79-154, 11. Witherspoon (SCC) 78-78-156.
C. Bergmann
