Jamestown Community College golfer Zach Johnson of South Africa plays at Chautauqua Golf Club during a match against the Community College of Butler County. Photo courtesy of Jamestown Community College Athletics

CHAUTAUQUA — The NJCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Golf National Championships return to Chautauqua Golf Club for the 26th year, starting with a practice round on Monday, June 2.

There will be 104 male and female golfers taking part in the event, and while the golfing will take place in the backyard of Jamestown Community College with the Jayhawks hosting. It will be extra special for a pair of Jayhawks who traveled over a combined 12,000 miles from Johannesburg, South Africa, and Dublin, Ireland, to call Jamestown their home for two years of college.

“The chance to experience a national college tournament is completely unimaginable to me if I was back home, so to get to take part in something like this is absolutely insane to me,” said sophomore Dan Towell, who joined JCC as a soccer player from Dublin, Ireland, before joining the golf team.

National championship competition is nothing new for South African Zach Johnson. Not only did he watch his older brother play last year, but he is also the reigning non-scholarship swimmer of the national championship meet, but even with all that, it hasn’t diminished his thrill for this opportunity.

“It’s a nice feeling having the event so close and being able to go home after every day. This is the first time I have been involved in an event this large for golf, and I am very excited to be a part of it,” said Johnson.

Towell and Johnson aren’t alone in sporting the green and gold at nationals; they will be joined by Jamestown native Cole Johnson for the 72-hole tournament. The scoring rounds begin early on Tuesday, June 3, and run through Friday, June 6.

For more information on the tournament you can go to the event homepage on the JCC Jayhawks’ website.