EASY GOING TURNER LIKES WHAT HE SEES IN DONALD ROSS AND BACKS IT UP

Southern Pines, NC – Former Augusta State standout Emmett Turner spent four years of college golf playing on a Donald Ross design in Forest Hills Golf Club. After graduation, the Greenwood, SC native remained in the town best known for "Amen Corner" and still refers to Forest Hills as a home course. Perhaps it's the patience that Ross courses force you to have or the shotmaking they require you to create, but Turner has felt at home this week and opened a two-shot lead after 36 holes of the eGolf Tarheel Tour's Pine Needles Classic. On Friday, he will look to run away with the title.

The inaugural Pine Needles Classic, being contested at Mid Pines and Pine Needles Resorts in Southern Pines, NC, highlight two of the master architect's famed venues that carve their way throughout towering Carolina pines. For Turner, the layout could not have fit his eye any better.

"I like the kinds of courses you don't have to trick up with out-of-bounds or water hazards. It's just through the pine trees – you can visually see the shot you have to hit," said Turner, who returned to Mid Pines on Thursday afternoon to practice after carding a 5-under 66 at Pine Needles in the morning wave.

Turner's second-round 66, which followed up a first-round 65 at Mid Pines, began on the par-4 ninth at Pine Needles as players went off of Nos. 1 and 9 at the venerable Southern Pines staple. Needless to say, the round began at a pace closer to mach seven than that of tournament golf. Birdies on Nos. 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14 vaulted the soft-spoken Turner up the leaderboard on a day when wind played havoc on players attempting to think their way around the two courses.

After he made the turn, birdies at Nos. 1 and 3 took Turner to 7-under on his round and approaching course-record status, which of course is often the kiss of death and was in this instance as he finished his round with bogeys on his last two holes.

"My rounds have ended on sour notes. Last night, I bogeyed 18 (at Mid Pines) to shoot 65 and then today bogeyed the last two to finish," said Turner, who likely won't receive much sympathy from the players chasing him and the $30,000 winner's check.

Turner heads into the final round with a two-shot lead over Chris Kirk of Woodstock, GA. Kirk, who won the 2007 Ben Hogan Award as the nation's top college golfer while at UGA, has recorded rounds of 68-65—133, the latter of which came at Pine Needles. Kirk's bogey-free 65 on Thursday has him in position to capture his first eGolf Tarheel Tour title after spending much of 2008 split between the PGA and Nationwide Tours.

First-round co-leader William McGirt of Boiling Springs, SC fought illness for another day to card a 2-under 68 and finish at 7-under 134, three shots behind Turner. McGirt, who has been fighting a bug for the better part of two weeks, has had ample success on the eGolf Tarheel Tour with a win at the 2007 Cabarrus Classic and top-6 finishes on the 2008 and 2007 tour money lists.

Turner's final-round task is not complicated. A golfer from Greenwood who lives in Augusta is more or less adept at keeping it simple, just like any good ole' Southern boy. When asked what he had to do to win on Friday, Turner was brief.

"Keep doing what I've been doing."

Hard to argue that theory after his first two rounds.

• One week after the tour record a record three hole-in-ones in a single tournament round, a fourth on the 2009 season has been added. Sean McDonagh of Del Mar, CA aced the picturesque par-3 second at Mid Pines after holing a 6-iron from 170 yards. It marked the fifth hole-in-one of McDonagh's career.

• The 36-hole cut fell at 1-over 142 with 77 players making it to Friday's final round at Mid Pines. The final round will begin off of Nos. 1 and 10 at 8:30 AM. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.