After Sandhills Community College toured the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club during Monday’s practice round for the NJCAA Division III National Championship, the Flyers’ assistant coach predicted his team would perform well when it teed it up for real.

With 18 holes remaining, the young men from North Carolina find themselves in the driver’s seat after quite a “moving day.”

Sparked by a 2-under 70 from Trey Capps, Sandhills CC fired a tournament-best, one-day total 293 Thursday to forge an 11-shot lead over Georgia Military College and a 14-stroke advantage over second-round leader Minnesota State Community & Technical College.

Capps, who is also the tournament individual leader with a 220, shared the round’s medalist honors with Dusty Watts of Georgia Military. Watts stands at 222 for the tournament in his pursuit of top honors.

Dusty Watts of Georgia Military College prepares to tee off during Thursday’s third round. Watts shot a 2-under 70 and is two strokes off the lead. P-J photo by Mark L. Anderson

How good was Sandhills CC, which last won a national title in 2014, yesterday?

Well, the four scores that counted were all in the 70s, and its 293 was a 23-shot improvement from 24 hours earlier. Joining Capps in the 70s were Ted Sluser with a 72, a whopping 17 shots better than his second-round 89; Nick Agapion with a 75 and Grant Gilbert with a 76. Nevin Bullough’s 82 was tossed out.

Georgia Military, which last won a national title here in 2017, turned in its best effort of the week, fashioning a 305. As a team, the Bulldogs stand at 934 overall, three shots in front of Minnesota State.

In addition to Watts’ 70, Austin Quillian had a 76, Luke Ninneman a 78 and Sean Eunice an 81. Trey May’s 82 was tossed out. As a team, the Bulldogs

The Spartans, who led by one stroke after the second round, had four players shoot in the 70s, too, but their scores weren’t as low as that of Sandhills CC, which means they’ll have some work to do in their bid to add another national title to their resume (their first came in 2012). Blake Bloedorn, who is in third place individually, led the way for Minnesota State with a 74, Wyatt Blomseth had a 77, and Hunter Moen and Carter Justesen both had 79. Austin Miller’s 86 was tossed out.

Meanwhile, Jamestown Community College’s Titus Miller shot an 83 — a three-shot improvement from Wednesday — while teammate Nick Mole finished with an 88. Miller is in a tie for 48th place at 247, while Mole stands in a tie for 57th at 254.

NOTES: While Capps (220) leads Watts (220) by two shots in individual standings, the other top-five contenders include: Bloedorn (227), Sean McGary of Rockland CC (230) and Moen (230). … Capps is 6-under on the par 5s this week and leads the field in eagles with two. … Watts leads in par 4 scoring (4.12), while Moen, Gilbert and Watts lead in birdies with nine apiece.

NJCAA DIVISION III GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

ROUND THREE

Chautauqua Golf Club

Par 72, 6,482 yards

Team Scores

Sandhills CC 314-316-293-923, Georgie Military College 315-314-304-934, Minnesota State Community & Technical College 317-311-309-937, Columbus State CC 324-328-308-960, Niagara County CC 327-332-330-989, CC of Morris 333-328-328-989, Cayuga CC 342-327-323-992, Butler County CC 336-337-319-992, Northampton CC 346-342-331-1,019, Madison College 357-341-348-1,046, Nassau CC 355-355-343-1,053.

Top 20 Individual Scores

Trey Capps 77-73-70-220

Dusty Watts 76-76-70-222

Blake Bloedorn 75-78-74-227

Sean McGarvey 75-77-77-229

Hunter Moen 75-76-79-230

Nick Paschetto 76-77-78-231

Jake Wilson 76-80-75-232

Nick Agapion 77-80-75-232

Luke Schwartz 79-74-79-232

Joe Cayer 76-76-80-232

Hunter Hubel 83-78-72-233

Chris McMorrow 76-79-78-233

Luke Ninneman 78-79-78-235

Nick Axelson 78-77-81-236

Noah Morgan 81-80-75-236

Jarret Brightbill 82-78-76-126

Garrett Stevens 80-82-75-237

Grant Gilbert 83-78-76-237

Cameron Mendoza 78-83-77-238

Wyatt Blomseth 85-77-77-239

Trevor Buss 82-79-78-239