This June, for the second straight year, the Georgia Northwestern Bobcats golf team will be heading to western New York.
The Navy-and-Silver earned the automatic bid to the NJCAA Division III Men's National Championships after finishing third in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) Region 17 Tournament at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta.
Georgia Northwestern carded rounds of 296, 306 and 309 to finish at 911 for the two-day, 54-hole event. They finished behind Division II teams Darton College (897) and ABAC (909) in the overall team standings, but they earned the berth at nationals by being the top region finisher among all Division III teams in the field.
Another Division II team, Andrew College, was fourth at 940.
Georgia Military, the other Division III team in attendance, did not post a third-round total afer two of their four golfers failed to finish their rounds on Tuesday. GMC trailed Georgia Northwestern by 115 shots after the first 36 holes on Monday.
Sophomore Chase Cole was second in the overall individual standings. The Dade County product, who will be continuing his college career next year at Dalton State, turned in rounds of 71, 73 and 75 to finish at 3-over par 219 for the tournament. He finished seven shots behind Darton freshman and England native Finlay Mason, who shot 67, 74 and 71.
After opening with rounds of 72 and 74, sophomore Jordan Estes had an 82 in Round 3 to finish at 228. However, that score was still good enough for second-best in the Bobcat lineup. Sophomore Grant Allen finished at 235 (75, 80, 80), freshman Tucker Venable had a 237 (78, 81, 78) and sophomore Lanier Guest turned in a 241 (86, 79, 76) and was the only Bobcat who shoot a lower score in all three rounds.
The Bobcats held a one-shot lead over Darton after Monday's first 18 holes, but they fell eight shots off the pace by the end of Monday's second round. ABAC passed Georgia Northwestern on Tuesday after their final round of 303.
The next stop for the Bobcats will be the season-ending national tournament in Chautauqua, N.Y., a 72-hole event that will be held June 6-10. Cole and Estes took two of the top four spots individually last year and helped the squad to a third-place national finish in their very first year of eligibility.