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Gray Takes Sole Lead Heading into Final Round

Greer, S.C. - With a weather forecast of any golfer’s dream, the third day of the 88^th SCGA Amateur Championship at Thornblade Club in Greer, SC, made for a perfect entrance into the weekend competition. Starting the day, less than half of the field would tidy up their second round, some clutching on to any hope to make the cut.  A good performance would give themselves two more days to compete. Once all scorecards were collected, 71 players would be awarded the opportunity to continue on at a chance for the title, making the cut with tee times beginning in the afternoon for round three.

Familiar names would stay at the top of the leaderboard and ultimately land themselves in the lead pairing. Tyler Gray of Lugoff went into the third round with a one-shot lead over Aiken’s Jake Carter and Kershaw’s Logan Sowell. Gray, Carter and Sowell would all stay within a shot or two of each other throughout the front nine – but it would be Gray who extended his lead going into the back nine by two strokes putting him at 12-under for the tournament.

Local participant, JD Lehman of Greenville, would make a back nine charge to take the lead after back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 but would fall back after an errant drive on 18 found the hazard off the tee. Gray made bogey on the 12^th hole, but made a nice recovery, sinking a putt for birdie on the par-four, gentle dogleg left, 14^th hole to get back to 12-under for the tournament and regain the lead.

Approaching the final holes, Gray would see his lead shrink as Carter would assert himself making birdie on the par-five 15^th hole. However, Gray would show his consistency and birdie the hard par-three 17^th hole to push his lead further on the field. Carter would follow his birdie on 15 with back-to-back bogies on 17 and 18, placing him in a tie for third going into the final round with Sumter’s Christian Salzer, who fired a five-under par 66 to jump back into contention.

Sowell will again contend in the final pairing as he remained steady throughout the round, sneaking in a birdie on the par-five 16^th hole to move into second place alone. Only two shots back, Sowell will hope to jump out early and force some pressure on Gray, making for an exciting final round.

For more information about the 88th SCGA Amateur Championship including pairings, detailed scoring, results, and other tournament information – 2019 SCGA Amateur Championship

The 2019 SCGA Amateur Championship is being played at Thornblade Club over the par 71 – 6,703 yard Tom Fazio layout. The field consists of 144 players that were either exempt or qualified at one of four sites. The Amateur Championship is one of 21 Major Championships conducted by the South Carolina Golf Association and is in its 88th year of existence. The top 20 are exempt for next year’s championship which will be held at Columbia Country Club in Blythewood, SC. 

Third Round Results: