On a day that saw some cold rain and plenty of blustery wind, the Georgia Northwestern Bobcats endured their share of problems, but still managed the second-lowest score after the first round of the 2016 NJCAA Division III Men's National Championship in Chautauqua, New York.
The Bobcats carded a team score of 306 on Tuesday and currently trail Vincennes University of Indiana (303) by just three shots.
Minnesota State Community and Technical College and host Jamestown (N.Y.) Community College are tied for third at 307 with Madison (Wisc.) rounding out the top five at 314.
Sophomore Chase Cole paced the Bobcats with a 1-over par 73, followed by sophomore Jordan Estes' 2-over 74. Both are returning first team All-Americans.
Freshman Tucker Venable shot a 77, while an 82 from sophomore Grant Allen rounded out the team total. Sophomore Lanier Guest had an 86, but only the lowest four scores count towards the team total.
The Bobcats' score could have been significantly better if not for a few holes of bad luck.
"I can't remember a round where something horrific happened to each of our individual players, but that seemed to happen to us today," head coach Jared Willerson said. "Jordan was even par on the day with one hole to go, smokes his drive, but it goes in the rough and no one can find it. Kudos to him for making a great bogey, despite having to go back and tee it up again.
"Chase made an eight on a hole that sets up perfectly for his ball flight, a hole he birdied twice last year, and Lanier was even through eight and had a disaster on No. 9. Grant and Tucker struggled some with their putting or they are both around even par today. Things that normally don't happen to us happened today, but even with all of that carnage, we're just three shots back.
Willerson said he believes his team is still in great shape with 54 holes to go.
"(Second place) is a good place to be because no one wants to sleep on the lead, especially after the first round,” he explained. “I really don't care if we're leading at any time, just as long as we're leading after the last hole on Friday."
The team will tee off for round two on Wednesday morning and Willerson believes his team is capable of improving from their first day total.
"We're very capable of shooting 295 or better," he added. "I think we're capable of improving by 12 shots because they all left some (shots) out there today. Hopefully we'll play well and just let the chips fall where they may."
Individually, Cole is in a three-way tie for third place with Dante Migliore of Mohawk Valley Community College (N.Y.) and Nick Kroustalis of Sandhills Community College (N.C.) Those three are two shots behind Ross Moore of Nassau Community College (N.Y.) and Erik Hansen of Southwestern Tech (Wisc.).
Estes is in a group of five golfers tied for sixth place just three shots off the lead.