SIX PLAYERS TAME DONALD ROSS WITH 65s IN ROUND ONE

Southern Pines, NC – A one hour fog delay greeted players on Wednesday morning of the Pine Needles Classic as Mother Nature forced everyone to wait before taking their crack at the $220,000 purse in the eGolf Tarheel Tour's second event of the 2009 season.

While 39 players were left on the golf course when darkness set in, 208 players managed to finish their first rounds on the fantastic Donald Ross-designed layouts at the Mid Pines and Pine Needles Resorts, co-hosts of this week's event. The courses, which have combined to host four USGA events in the past 11 years – including three U.S. Women's Opens – are hosting their first eGolf Tarheel Tour event and immediately were tested by some of the game's best players.

Four players managed rounds of 5-under 65 at Mid Pines on Wednesday. Brett Stegmaier, Ryan Carter, Emmett Turner and Doug Garwood each were able to tame the short-yet-tricky Mid Pines course and cement their spots atop the leaderboard. Stegmaier, who hails from Vero Beach, FL, carded a spotless round, complete with five birdies and 13 pars. Turner, a former standout at Augusta State and current Augusta, GA resident, began his opening round in a rather mundane fashion with a birdie, a bogey and six pars through his first eight holes. After that, he clearly left uphill putts on the devilish Ross greens as he birdied Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 17 before finishing with a bogey on the par-4 18th for his round of 65. Carter, who is based out of Hacienda Heights, CA, managed six birdies and one bogey en route to placing his name at the top of the list.

For Garwood, it was a nice welcome to the eGolf Tarheel Tour after the Chatsworth, CA native drove across the country to play in last week's FairwayStyles.com Open and this week's Pine Needles Classic. This week, the Southern California native welcomed himself to Southern hospitality with a 5-under 65. Garwood, a former Nationwide Tour player, used an eagle at the par-5 sixth along with four other birdies to grab a share of the day one lead.

The low rounds of the day at Pine Needles came from past tour winner William McGirt of Boiling Springs, SC and Jordan Holley of Boca Raton, FL, each of whom carded rounds of 5-under 66. McGirt, who began his round on the front nine, quickly vaulted to three-under through four holes and would later add birdies at 10, 11 and 13 to offset a bogey at the par-4 ninth to complete his 66. For Holley, his story played much the same with six birdies against a lone bogey at the arduous par-4 seventh. He did manage to record birdies at two of his last four holes to join McGirt atop the Pine Needles leaderboard.

The first round of the Pine Needles Classic will resume at 8:30 AM on Thursday morning at both courses. The second round will also begin at 8:30 with each half of the field switching courses for round two. After the completion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 74 players and ties with the final round being played at Mid Pines on Friday. As with all eGolf Tarheel Tour events, the tournament is open to the public and free of charge.