Brett Dowell, left, listens as teammate Spencer Scott gives advice at the Junior Team Championship on Wednesday at Eagle Bend.

Perhaps, on the leaderboard, they should have gone by the name Spencer Dowell or Brett Scott.

For 18 holes of Round One of the Ninth Annual Junior Team Championship on Wednesday at Eagle Bend Golf Course, Lawrence High graduate Spencer Scott and his partner, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Brett Dowell, played like cogs in a giant clock, one leaning left while the other bent right, one reading a putt from the front while the other surveyed the view from behind.

In the end, the format worked wonderfully for the twosome, which shot a 3-under 69 and sat four strokes back heading into today’s final round.

“We didn’t really talk about a strategy,” Scott said. “We just kind of went with it. But that’s what I like about (the format). It’s a huge help to know how your partner is going to play.”

Dowell, one of the tourney’s biggest hitters, usually bombed his drives and second shots as far and straight as possible while Scott, thrust into the role of Mr. Conservative, played the odds, laying up when necessary and knocking the ball onto the green when required.

Most often the strategy worked, as one or the other usually was in good enough shape to keep the team scoring in the red numbers.

For Scott, the top player on the 2009 LHS squad, Wednesday’s role was not entirely new.

“I usually play it safe anyway,” he said.

The format for the first round was a four-ball stroke play set up, meaning that the best individual score on a given hole went down as the team score, regardless of how poorly the other player scored.

Scott and Dowell were even through eight holes, finishing most of the first round’s early holes with easy pars. On No. 9, Dowell’s big drive and huge second shot led to a birdie, and the duo followed that up with a birdie on No. 10 to move to 2-under. They remained at 2-under heading into No. 16 — a par 5 — where Dowell’s big drive once again came in handy. After reaching the green in two shots, Dowell’s eagle putt came up five rotations short, leaving a relatively easy tap-in for birdie. That moved the Sunflower League standouts to 3-under. On the par-3 17th, Scott showed that this was not a team of one-dimensional mashers, as he stuck his tee shot eight feet from the cup and rolled in a birdie putt to move the duo to 4-under. As soon as Dowell saw Scott’s putt drop, he smiled, picked up his ball and moved on to No. 18.

“Any time that happens, it’s great,” Dowell said. “I’ll do it, but those four-footers can be tough, and you don’t want to have to make them.”

Scott and Dowell gave one back with a bogey on No. 18 and enter today’s alternate-shot final round at 3-under, four strokes behind leaders Elliot Soyez and Michael Gellerman, who shot 65.

Five twosomes stand between Scott and Dowell and the leaders.

Dowell said he thought the alternate format played to his team’s strengths.

“I think we’ll do pretty good. With alternate shot, you just try not to get angry at your partner,” he said.

Their tee time for today’s final round is 9:20 a.m.

Also in contention is Baldwin High’s Mason Dick, who teamed with Sam Schulte, of Hutchinson, to shoot a first-round 68. Tonganoxie’s Colby Yates joined Parker Miller, of Kansas City, Kan., to shoot 71. That twosome will tee off for today’s final round at 9 a.m. Dick and Schulte will begin at 9:50 a.m.