OBSERVER Photo by Scott Kindberg
Jamestown Community College’s Jackson Sandhoff chips on to the fourth green on the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club in the second round of the NJCAA Division III Golf Championships on Wednesday.
CHAUTAUQUA — The Jamestown Community College’s men’s golf team battled on-and-off downpours and humid conditions at Chautauqua Golf Club to shave 12 strokes off of its first-round score on Day 2 of the NJCAA Division III Championships.
The Jayhawks, who shot a 331 to move up two spots to eighth on the leaderboard, were led by freshman Jackson Sandhoff, who carded a 79, cutting five strokes off of his first round to improve 15 spots and now stands in a tie for 30th place.
“We made the proper adjustments around the greens. I drove it better today,” Sandhoff said. “I’m excited to go into the next couple of days and see what we can do.”
Maxim Johnson shot an 88, which is a personal best for the South African.
“It went very well. The front nine wasn’t great, but I flowed with it,” Johnson said. “On the back nine, I locked in and started doing really well. It was a good round.”
Athanasios Bakas said he played “really good golf today” on his way to an 82.
“I had two chip-ins, one for a birdie and one for a clutch par,” he said.
The Jayhawks also had an 82 from Brady Fye and a 95 from Spencer Bell.
The conditions weren’t as bad as forecast, but still a day of constant showers made playing miserable for all who took to the Lake Course.
“It was more like a nagging rain, it didn’t inconvenience the golf, but everything was soaking wet,” Sandhoff said. “You had to do what you needed to do, and hit good shots.”
“It was definitely a little bipolar. It comes into play for how you’re hitting the golf ball. With the weather always changing, you had to make more decisions on the course,” Johnson added. “It wasn’t friendly to us, but we did well anyway.”
Sitting in eighth after Day 2 has Jamestown CC ready to make a charge on the second half of nationals.
“I think my teammates are playing really well. I think we know there are shots we’d like to have back,” Sandhoff said. “We will come together as a group and push towards the end.”
Sandhills CC, meanwhile, continued to play well.
Seeking its fourth straight Division III title, the North Carolina school improved 11 strokes and stands at 571 after two rounds, 20 shots in front of Georgia Military College and 33 better than the College of DuPage, which is in third place at 604.
Leading the way for Sandhills CC is Daniel Aitken, who followed up Tuesday’s opening-round 69 with a 2-under 70 for a two-day total of 139, 5-under par.
Teammate Ben Read is second after a 3-under 69, which puts him at 142, three off the pace. Anthony Regimand of the College of DuPage is third after his 68 — the best of the day — puts him at 144. The remaining golfers in the top 10 are Ross Tetrault of Georgia Military College (72-73-145), fourth; Watcharakan Chankam of Sandhills CC (77-69-146), Liam Harris of Sandhills CC (74-72-146) and Gehrig Massey of Georgia Military College (71-75-146), tied for fifth; Brady Wentz of Georgia Military College (78-70-148) and Patrick Murray of UCNJ Union College (77-71-148), tied for eighth; and Caden Camp of Georgia Military College (79-73-152) and Joey Manginelli of Ulster CC (75-77-152), tied for 10th.
Today’s tee times for the Jayhawks — beginning at No. 1 — find Sandhoff at 9 a.m., Fye at 9:09 a.m., Bakas at 9:18 a.m., Johnson at 9:27 a.m. and Bell at 9:36 a.m.
WOMEN
Ellia Soydara of Minnesota State Community and Technical College recorded the first sub-80 round to take a two-shot lead after 36 holes.
Soydara fired a 79 — she opened with an 81 on Tuesday — to overtake first-round leader Ivy Burnett of the College of DuPage, who carded an 82 and stands at 162 for the tournament.
Within striking distance are Megan Redig of Rock Valley College, whose 79 puts her in a tie for third at 164 with Haley Cassells of the College of DuPage, while Syndi Sundstrom of Lehigh Carbon CC is alone in fifth at 169.
Sixteen golfers make up the field in the women’s tournament.