On another great day for scoring, #2-ranked Dalton State carded a team round of (+6, 290) on Thursday to hold on to second place after the third round of the NAIA National Championships at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The Roadrunners, (+4, 856), now trail #1 Oklahoma City, (-4, 848), heading to the final round after the Stars posted a round of (-8, 276).
Coastal Georgia is tied with Dalton State for second after shooting a team round of (+7, 291). Keiser (Fla.), (+7, 859), is in fourth, followed by Texas Wesleyan, (+8, 860), rounding out the Top-5.
The best Roadrunner round of the day goes to All-American S.M.
Lee. Lee tied with Rupert Kaminski of Oklahoma City for the round of the day overall, posting a round of (-5, 66). He would get off to a hot start with birdies on Nos. 1 & 2. A minor setback at No. 4 would see him drop back to 1-under, but another birdie at No. 6 saw him make the turn a 2-under.
Lee would quickly push his score to 5-under after birdies at Nos. 10, 11, & 12. He would bogey No. 15, but close strong with a birdie at No. 17 to finish off his round and take a five-stroke individual lead into the final round.
Senior Chase Cole would have the second best round for the Birds, firing an (E, 71). Cole would too birdie Nos. 1 & 2, while also posting a bogey at No. 4. He would double-bogey No. 9 to make the turn at 1-over. Things would get interesting on the back 9, starting with a birdie at No. 10.
He would follow that up with another double-bogey at No. 11 before ripping off three consecutive birdies at Nos. 14, 15, & 16 to hit red figures at 1-under. A bogey at No. 17 to close would push him back to (E).
Dalton Johnson would get off to a slow start, posting bogey on Nos. 3 & 7. He would get a stroke back at No. 8 with a birdie, but give it right back with a bogey on No. 9. A birdie at No. 11 would get him close to even-par, but bogeys at Nos. 13, 17, & 18 coming in would see Johnson finish his round at 4-over.
All-American P.J. Shields and sophomore Ben Rebne would both struggle around Deere Run on Thursday. Shields would post (+7, 78) for his round that featured one birdie, four bogeys, and two double-bogeys, while Rebne recorded one birdie, four bogeys, one double-bogey, and one triple bogey for a round of (+8, 79).
Dalton State will tee it up for the last time this season when they hit the course tomorrow, May 18 for the final round of the NAIA National Championship at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The Roadrunners will tee off No. 1 beginning at 9:09 a.m. (CDT) and will be paired with Oklahoma City and Coastal Georgia.