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Two at the Top Heading Into Final Round

Florence, SC – Overcast skies greeted the 72 players who qualified for weekend play at Florence Country Club for the third round of the 86^th SCGA Amateur Championship presented by McLeod Health. By late morning the sun broke through, as did some of the competitors chasing second round leader RJ Keur.

Two players were able to break on through under the divided sky and now share the third-round lead at 9 under par. The first of those players to post nine under was reigning Florence Country Club champion and hometown favorite, Gregg Jones, who recorded a five under par 65. Jones got off to an ideal start, making birdie on the par 4 first hole. He followed that up with eleven consecutive pars, some of which he described as “squirrelly” then capped off his round with birdies on four of his last six holes. Jones, a former SCJGA Junior Champion and tour pro, will be looking to record his first ever SCGA Amateur Championship in Sunday’s final round.

Also sitting atop the leaderboard, once again, is first round leader Parks Price, who bounced back from a “sluggish” start to record a three under par 67 in his third round. Price bogeyed two of his first four holes, but got things turned around on the front nine with birdies on the par 5 fifth and the difficult par 4 eighth holes. It was all pars and one birdie from then on until the par 4, 15th, where Price holed his second shot from 144 yards with a “perfect” 9-iron for an eagle two. Buoyed by the eagle on fifteen, Price then finished par-birdie-par to cap off his round.

Jones and Price will be paired in tomorrow’s final round with Columbia’s Ryan Marter, whose solid play this week continued with a two under par 68. Marter sits just one shot off the lead at 8 under par. Second round leader RJ Keur stumbled a bit in his third round with a one over par 71, but sits just two shots back of the leaders heading into Sunday’s final round.

Bishopville’s Cally Bell made the biggest move up the leaderboard, firing a Saturday low six under par 64, to move into a tie for seventh at two under par for the championship. Matt Carter and Drake Cassidy sit at three under par for the week, six shots behind the leaders.

The fourth round of the Amateur Championship will begin on #1 and #10 tees at 8.00 am.  For full information including detailed scoring and pairings visit our tournament web page – 86^th Amateur Championship .

The SCGA, founded in 1929, is the governing body for amateur golf in South Carolina.  As a non-profit organization, the SCGA’s purpose is to promote, preserve and serve the game of golf.  Made up of more than 270 member clubs and more than 50,000 individual members, the SCGA annually conducts 21 SCGA statewide championships, 71 one-day contests, ten USGA qualifiers, seven 40-plus tournaments and six special events.  Other Member services offered include GHIN – the USGA Handicap Computation System, a Tournament Software System and support, Rules of Golf and Handicap education, USGA Course/Slope Ratings and Course measuring, Amateur Status information, the Palmetto Golfer Magazine and the SC Golf Hall of Fame.  The SCGA also houses the offices of the SC Junior Golf Foundation and SC Junior Golf Association in a combined effort to support junior golf and grow-the-game initiatives.

Round Three Results