Georgia Northwestern head coach Jared Willerson said he was not disappointed with his team's play in the opening round of the NJCAA Division III Men's National Championship.
However, he wasn't exactly thrilled either.
The Bobcats, making their first-ever appearance in the tournament, shot a team score of 308 at historic Chautauqua Lake Course layout in New York on Tuesday.
Still, the 308 held up to put the Bobcats in third place at the end of the day.
Georgia Northwestern was among the first schools to tee off in the first round and was once again greeted with breezy conditions and temperatures in the upper 40s, although conditions improved considerably as the day went on.
Freshman Jordan Estes paced the Bobcats with a 1-over par 73 on the 6,559-yard course. Fellow freshman Chase Cole was 2-under par at the turn, but ran into trouble on the back nine and finished with a 3-over score of 75.
Sophomore Grant Allen had a 79 while another freshman, Lanier Guest, carded an 81 to round out the team score. Sophomore Drew Tankersley also teed it up for the Bobcats, but shot an 84 and had his score dropped.
Willerson cited a reason, other than weather, for his team's slow start.
“The layoff has been the biggest thing,” he said. “It’s been six weeks since we played in our region tournament and it's hard to simulate that kind of pressure in practice rounds. We’ve tried, but practice is no substitute for the crucible of competition.”
The Bobcats finished the front nine at 8-over par, but “hit a wall” as Willerson put it on the back side.
“We played really well to start and really well at the end,” he explained. “But we kind of struggled as a team there between holes 8 and 13. We finally got our legs underneath us at the end, but the pace of play really slowed down after the eighth hole and we struggled with it.
“But, it’s just the first round. We'll get there.”
Defending national champion Sandhills Community College (N.C.) leads the way with a 294, highlighted by a 2-under 70 from No. 4 player Brandon Grzywacz. Cincinnati State (Ohio) is currently in second place after shooting an even 300.
Butler Community College (Pa.) is at 309, one shot behind Georgia Northwestern, while the College of DuPage (Ill.) and Community College of Rhode Island are tied for third at 311. They are both one shot ahead of Monroe Community College (N.Y.) and Minnesota State Community and Technical College, who both finished at 312.
The Bobcats will be among the last to tee off in Wednesday’s second round. Temperatures are expected to be much warmer with highs approaching the mid-70s and no chance of rain.
“The key to playing this golf course is learning where you can't miss,” Willerson added. “I think we figured a lot of stuff out today and hopefully our bad round is behind us. We played fairly poorly at times today, but we're still right there in it, although some other schools probably feel the same way.”
Grzywacz’s 70 was the low round of the day. He leads in the individual competition by two shots over Cincinnati State’s Taylor Suggs and Michael Weinart of Lehigh Carbon Community College (Pa.).
Estes is tied for fourth with Tommy Dimun of Butler County Community College (Pa.) and Cody Roberts of Sandhills, while Cole is firmly in the Top 10 overall, tied in a group five shots back.
NJCAA Division III Men’s National Golf Tournament
(Chautauqua Golf Club, Chautauqua, NY, Par 72, 6,559 yards)
First Round Results
1. Sandhills C.C. 294
2. Cincinnati State 300
3. Georgia Northwestern 308
4. Butler County 309
5. College of DuPage 311
C.C. of Rhode Island 311
7. Monroe C.C. 312
Minnesota State 312
9. Lehigh Carbon 318
10. C.C. of Morris 329
11. Genesee C.C. 330
12. Nassau C.C. 337
13. Jamestown C.C. 365