Rain fell most of Monday, which caused a delayed start; and required the liberal use of umbrellas; towels to keep club grips dry; and a heavy dose of execution and concentration.

Jamestown Community College’s Traden Gray successfully navigated it all.

The freshman from Frewsburg shot an opening-round 77, which puts him in a four-way tie for 10th place, six shots behind leader Andreas Huber of Sandhills (North Carolina) CC. There are a bunch of players between Gray and the lead, but as far as Jayhawks’ coach George Sisson is aware, it’s the first time in his tenure that one of his players has opened the tournament with such a solid round.

“(The day) was discombobulated (because of the elements),” he said, “but (Gray) was dialed in.”

Jamestown Community College’s Josh Brown watches his approach shot during the first round of the NJCAA Division III Golf Championship on the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club on Monday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Especially on his first nine, which were holes 10-18 on the Lake Course, when he fired a 1-over 38.

“Chautauqua is not a huge, long course, but if you don’t have the ability to attack the green on the second shot it really puts you behind,” Sisson said. “I thought he put himself in position from 170 yards in. He was doing a really good job of getting to the green to one-pitch, one-putt.”

On Gray’s second nine (holes 1-9), it was a bit of a struggle, as he recorded two birdies, four pars, two bogeys and a triple bogey for a 3-over 39.

The rest of the Jamestown CC team had a “tale of two nines,” according to Sisson.

Josh Brown shot a 50-41-91; Noah Adams a 39-52-81; and Kyle Smallback a 39-54-93.

“To be consistent for four days is really, really important,” Sisson said. “I’m looking for (those three) to pick it up and not to have such drastic nines.”

Sandhills CC was certainly consistent as all five players — led by Huber’s 1-under 71 — shot in the 70s. The top 10 includes Huber, 71; Troy Loughry, Butler CC, 73; Alex Martin, Sandhills CC, 73; Leo Camilloni, Niagara County CC, 74; Damian Guerrero, DuPage CC 75; Carson Witherspoon, Sandhills CC, 75; Sean Barrett, Niagara County CC, 76; Adam Hathaway, Sandhills CC, 76; Austin Wood, Sandhills CC, 76; Austin Quillian, Georgia Military College, 77; Gray, 77; Sam Faulhaber, Dupage CC, 77; and Trevor Pedrazzi, County College of Morris, 77.

Sandhills CC’s 295 is 19 shots in front of second-place Niagara County CC; and 26 shots better than third-place DuPage CC. Georgia Military College (323), Minnesota State Tech (330), Butler County CC (335), County College Of Morris (336), Nassau CC (336), Jefferson CC (345) and Jamestown CC (352) complete the team scores.

In the women’s tournament, Scotty Foley of Sandhills CC shot an 82 to lead the six-person field. Teammate Ava Ray is four shots back. McCarthy Lang of Niagara County CC shot an 88, Julia Bazata of Oxford and Rory Smith of Adirondack CC are tied for fourth with a 94, and Kennedy Lang of Niagara County CC is sixth with a 95.

Play resumes today at 9 a.m. Smallback is the first Jayhawk to tee off on No. 1 at 9:30 a.m., followed by Adams at 9:40 a.m., Brown at 9:50 a.m. and Gray at 10 a.m.