The rising Georgia Tech sophomore and former Harrison standout settled for a 1-over 73 on Friday, putting him at 6-under 210 following the third round of the Dogwood Invitational at Druid Hills Golf Club.
Schniederjans is tied for 10th with two other golfers, and he continues to trail Bruce Woodall, who improved to 14-under 202 with a third-straight under-par round.
Woodall, a former Virginia player, holds a one-shot advantage over M.J. Maguire and is two strokes in front of Ben Kholes. Michael Kim (205) is fourth, with Curtis Thompson and Bobby Wyatt each another stroke back.
Schniederjans, who was third after Thursday’s round, was part of the final group to tee off, alongside Woodall and Maguire. But unlike his playing partners, he found misfortune right from the start with bogeys at No. 1 and No. 5 before recovering for an even-par 36 on the front nine.
Schniederjans began the back nine in similar fashion, with a bogey at the par-4 10th, and he parred his remaining holes for the 73.
Meanwhile, Woodall and Maguire continued their solid play, each carding 69s to put more distance between themselves and Schniederjans.
Despite his slip-up, Schniederjans was able to make the cut of the top 40 and ties.
“It was really rough,” Schniederjans said of his round. “I had a bad start on the first hole. I putted it down the hill from 10 feet and barely made bogey, and I missed a 3-footer on the second hole, so I just struggled from the start. Overall (Friday), I hit it well enough, but I putted terribly. It was just bad mojo all day, and I never got it going.
“I just needed to get things going, and something good to happen, and nothing did happen for me.”
Despite temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, Schniederjans didn’t blame the heat for his less-than-stellar round.
“Every time I missed just a little bit, it was the completely wrong spot,” he said. “I would say the way I managed my game, and the way I putted, was why I wasn’t able to score.
“I think the heat affects everybody somewhat. Just mentally, I think, if things aren’t going good, it’s just harder. The heat didn’t affect my golf at all.”
The heat didn’t affect Schniederjans’ former Harrison teammates, Cameron Simmons and Michael Garretson either, but both failed to make the cut.
Simmons, a rising senior at Akron, shot 72 — his best round of the tournament — for a 54-hole total of 224.
“I hit some better shots. Well, actually, I think I hit less bad shots. That helped a lot,” he said. “I left myself in some decent positions when I wasn’t making birdie. I gave myself a lot of tap-in pars and just made a couple of clumsy bogeys on the back nine. I think I played really well, and I’m happy with it in the end. It’s still not where I want to be, but it’s not bad.”
While Simmons had his best round of the week, Garretson had his worst, shooting 76 to tie Simmons at 224.
Starting on the back nine, Garretson made the turn at 1-under 35, but a quadruple bogey at No. 1, followed by a double bogey at No. 3 and bogeys at Nos. 4 and 6 proved costly. He did manage an eagle at the par-5 seventh, but it wasn’t enough.
Garretson was the top finisher from Monday’s Dogwood qualifier when he shot in the mid-60s, but he was never able to equal those results during the tournament.
“Everything just pretty much went right on Monday,” Garretson said. “I didn’t miss a green and I putted really well. That wasn’t the case this week. I didn’t hit the ball well the first day. I didn’t putt well the second day. (Friday), I had just two bad shots and the course really made me pay for them.”
Schniederjans will begin his final round today at 9:18 a.m. from hole No. 1 with hopes of making a dramatic move up the leaderboard.
“I just have to grind through it (today) and, hopefully, get things happening,” he said. “I absolutely think I can get a 65 or 66. But, at eight strokes back on this course, I’m out of the tournament. (Woodall and Maguire) are going to shoot well under par (today), but as far as trying to get a top-five finish, that’s very doable if I can shoot a 65.”
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