CHAUTAUQUA, NY - After a difficult day at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Men's and Women's Golf National Championship on Tuesday, the host Jamestown Community College (JCC) Jayhawks saw their three golfers improve across the board on Wednesday.
Jamestown's Dan Towell continues to pace JCC, sitting at +37 after a one-stroke improvement on day 2 That's good enough for 65th overall. "I'm excited. I know where I can improve and I'm pretty confident after the first two days that I can improve and shoot scores that reflect my best golf," mentioned Towell.
Teammate Zach Johnson improved by seven strokes to card a +25, a seven-shot difference from day 1. The South African rides in 73rd.
The biggest leap was made by Jamestown native Cole Johnson, who shot a +19, which is 20 strokes up from his opening round to move him up to 74th. "I'm feeling okay, but kind of frustrated about the last two days because I know I can do better," said Cole Johnson.
The leader of the individual male competition is now Vegas Melen of Sandhills Community College, who sits at -4 at 140. He is two strokes ahead of his teammate Wyatt Beaver for the best of the field. Those two are part of a group of Flyers that have Sandhills in first, 18 strokes ahead of Georgia Military College.
On the women's side, Ivy Burnett, who finished third in 2024, of College of DuPage grew her advantage by shooting a +8. She is now 14 strokes ahead of Sydni Sundstrom of Community College of Morris. Joliet Junior College has a massive 153-shot lead for the women's team title over Rowan College of South Jersey - Gloucester.
The 104-golfer field hopes the pristine weather continues as play resumes for round three at Chautauqua Golf Club on Thursday morning at 9:00 AM.
They have two more rounds to improve their scores and ranking among the field. "I'm looking forward to improving my game a ton and focusing on keeping my head and playing the golf I know I can play," added Cole Johnson. "I guess playing with new guys will be pretty nice and again just being able to play and compete in a big tournament environment will be cool especially on the closing days," followed up Towell.
For more information on the tournament, you can go to the event homepage on the JCC Jayhawks' website.
