Sandhills Community College’s Ben Read watches his putt on No. 5 on the Lake Course at Chautauqua Golf Club on Day 3 of the NJCAA Division III Golf Championship. Read is currently the leader. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

CHAUTAUQUA — Sandhills Community College arrived at Chautauqua Golf Club this week seeking its third straight NJCAA Division III Golf Championship.

Led by Ben Read, the North Carolina school appears on its way.

A freshman from Banchory, Scotland, Read fashioned a 5-under 67 on the Lake Course on Thursday to put himself at 7-under par for the tournament, three shots ahead of teammate Alex Martin and four in front of Nick Johnson of Georgia Military College.

As a team, the Flyers have five players in the top 10 and own an aggregate score of 862. Georgia Military College is second at 883 followed by the College of DuPage at 943. Jamestown CC, which was third after two rounds, didn’t have its best day and dropped to fourth with a 955.

In addition to Read’s outstanding effort, Martin shot a 1-under 71, and Noah Maness, Watcharakan Chankam and Logan Hay all had a 2-over 74.

That kind of consistent scoring will make Sandhills CC, which won championships at Chautauqua GC in 2014, 2021 and 2022, tough to beat today in its bid for another one.

Then, again, Georgia Military College, which claimed national titles at CGC in 2004, 2017 and 2019, has the program history to score well in its final round, too.

Yesterday, in addition to Johnson’s 72, Brad Hammock and Walter Kelley each shot a 71, Stephen Bishop had a 75 and Braeden McDaniel, whose score was tossed out, shot a 76.

As has been the case in recent years, the two schools are the cream of the crop.

Meanwhile, the host Jayhawks slipped a bit from its fine start in the first two days and will be in a battle to claim third place today.

Brady Fye led Jamestown CC with a 79 — his third straight round under 80 — followed by Traden Gray (80), Noah Adams (83) and Anthony Gullo (84). Fye stands at 233 for the championship and is tied for 22nd place; Gray, who eagled No. 13, is at 230 and is tied for 14th place; and Gullo is at 236 and tied for 25th place. Adams, who has played two rounds, stands at 170, while Athanasios Bakas, who shot an 87, is at 177 in his two rounds.

Coach George Sisson hopes for better performances today.

“There was some things that my guys did pretty well, but they just didn’t score, and putting seemed to be our nemesis,” he said.

Then the former longtime basketball coach offered this analogy: “The best part of it is when you go in with a lead and you have a bad third quarter, there’s still a fourth quarter. We are within striking distance of third place.

“Our mindset is important. Can’t be perfect. Just play golf.”

NOTES: Other golfers in the top 10 are Sean Barrett of Niagara County CC, fourth place, 218; and Troy Loughry of Butler County CC, tied for seventh, 223. … Jamestown tees off this morning on No. 1 in the following order: Austyn Cummings, 9:45; Adams, 9:54; Gullo, 10:03; Fye, 10:12; and Gray, 10:21. … On the women’s side, Oxford College of Emory University is in first place with a score of 1,164 followed by RCSJ-Gloucester at 1,254. Individually, Sandhills CC has the top three spots. Trinity Ahining is at 222, Ava Ray stands at 227 and Scotty Foley is at 234. Ellia Soydara of Minnesota Community & Technical College is in fourth place with a 242 and Rayne Yelinko of County College of Morris rounds out the top five with a 253.

Team Scores

Sandhills CC 862, Georgia Military College 883, DuPage CC 943, Jamestown CC 955, Butler County CC 957, Onondaga CC 965, Minnesota State Community & Technical College 977, Nassau CC 993, RCSJ Cloucester 1,028, Terra State CC 1,029, Holyoke CC 1,260.

Individual Scores

Top 25

Ben Read Sandhills CC 72-70-67-209

Alex Martin Sandhills CC 68-73-71-212

Nick Johnson GMC 69-72-72-213

Sean Barrett Niagara County CC 73-72-73-218

Brad Hammock GMC 76-72-71-219

Noah Maness Sandhills CC 78-69-74-221

Troy Loughry Butler County CC 74-74-75-223

Watcharakan Chankam Sandhills CC 77-72-74-223

Logan Hay Sandills CC 75-74-74-223

Walter Kelley GMC 77-76-71-224

Julian Galletta Onondaga CC 76-78-72-226

Nathan Hellar Jefferson CC 74-77-75-226

Stephen Bishop GMC 79-73-75-227

EvanCrouse Herkimer College 80-74-76-230

Charlie Gneise r DuPage CC 78-75-77-230

Lane Jenkins Hudson Valley CC 74-77-79-230

Traden Gray Jamestown CC 75-75-80-230

Patrick Murray Union CC 79-76-76-231

Kevin O’Rouke Nassau CC 76-75-80-231

Brent Schmiesing Madison College 80-76-76-232

Chase Richardson Westmoreland CC 75-77-80-232

Liam Kosior Butler CC 83-71-79-233

Brady Fye Jamestown CC 77-77-79-233

Leo Camilloni Niagara County CC 75-80-80-235

Leo Stepan Minnesota State C&T College 80-79-77-236

Anthony Gullo Jamestown CC 80-72-84-236