CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Troy Loughry met with Butler County Community College golf coach Bill Miller on Wednesday night to discuss Loughry’s highest-scoring round at BC3, one that earlier in the day cost the freshman five places in the standings of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national championship tournament.

His difficulty with tee shots using a driver resulted in a 5-over 77 – 4 strokes higher than in his opening round – and Loughry dropped from a tie for second place into seventh halfway through a season-ending championship in which the top 18 finishers become All-Americans and the top 5, first-team All-Americans.

“I was in the trees, in the rough, anywhere but in the fairway,” Loughry said. “Coach Miller and I had a little meeting. He said, ‘I think you should go 3-wood.’ I gave it some thought. We went 3-wood off the first tee (Thursday) and it worked. So I kept hitting it moving forward.”

One round after his discussion with Miller, the Grove City High School graduate found himself back on the fairway and back in contention for a first-team postseason award.

Loughry shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday and with a three-round 223 moved into fifth place, 2 strokes behind a three-way tie for second and 6 strokes off the lead.

With a top 18 finish after Friday’s final round, Loughry would become BC3’s fifth All-American in golf and, with a top 5 finish, the Pioneers’ first first-team All-American in golf.

The Pioneers’ Liam Kosior is tied for 20th place, 5 strokes off the top 18.

Loughry hit one of 13 fairways with tee shots Wednesday. He hit nine on Thursday by using the 3-wood suggested by Miller.

“Troy hit the ball straighter and hit the fairways better,” Miller said. “He went in very focused and attacked the course.”

A driver has the largest club head and the biggest launch angle, Loughry said. “The negative is that it is usually the most inaccurate club in your bag,” he said. “You can hit it far, but the misses are bigger as well.”

A 3-wood has a smaller club head, Loughry said. Tee shots “are not going to go as far as a driver’s, and usually the misses are a lot more forgiving.”

Andreas Huber, Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, N.C., leads a field of 64 golfers with a three-round 217.

Damian Guerrero, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., and Sandhills’ Carson Witherspoon and Alex Martin are tied for second with a 221.

Kosior, a Neshannock High graduate, shot an 85 on Thursday and with a 246 is tied with Brett Shields, Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y.

The Pioneers shot a 344 on Thursday and remained in seventh place.

BC3’s Tanner Hohmann, a Grove City High graduate, shot a 90; Jack Mason, Freeport, a 96; and Collin Witouski, Eden Christian Academy, a 98.

Only the lowest four scores of each player in each round are tallied in the team standings.

Golfers who finish sixth through 10th in the NJCAA Division III national championship tournament become second-team All-Americans; those who finish 11th through 15th, third-team; and 16th through 18th, honorable mention.

BC3 golfers Matthew Heighes in 1996 and Stefan Carlsson in 2014 became second-team All-Americans; and Michael Cuscino in 2008 and Carlsson in 2015 a third-team All-American. Thomas Dimon in 2015 was an honorable mention.

Sandhills Community College, the 2021 NJCAA Division III team champion, shot a 293 Thursday and remained in first place with an 881 and a 61-stroke lead over DuPage.

The team with the lowest score after four rounds will win the national championship.

Loughry said he will continue to use the 3-wood for tee shots on Friday.

“I think right now I need to shoot with consistency,” he said, “and to do that I need to continue hitting with the 3-wood.”

Prior to Wednesday, Loughry’s highest round at BC3 was a 74 in the fall.

Bill Foley is the Communications Director at Butler County Community College