SAVANNAH QUARTERS AND $300,000 PURSE SIT ON THE HORIZON

With the $300,000 Savannah Quarters Championship coming up next week, the time seemed right to reflect on the first two events of the eGolf Tarheel Tour’s 2009 season and look ahead to some possible contenders for next week’s $50,000 first-place prize.

FairwayStyles.com Open

Even Kyle Dobbs managed to surprise Kyle Dobbs with his win in the season-opening FairwayStyles.com Open in the greater Bluffton, SC area. Dobbs, who was playing his first official tournament since a freak back injury sidelined him for exactly one year, carded a course-record 64 in the final round at Oldfield Country Club to come from five shots back and win by four over Blake Adams, Matt Davidson, David Sanchez and Chris Baker.

Pine Needles Classic

At last week’s Pine Needles Classic, 19-year professional Tom Gillis outlasted Emmett Turner, Michael Henderson and Chris Kirk in a three-hole playoff to win his first eGolf Tarheel Tour event. Gillis, who played on the PGA Tour in 2003 and 2005, spent the better part of the aforementioned 19 years chasing the dream through 26 countries, the European Tour, the Nationwide Tour and various mini-tours before earning his first card in ’03.

Savannah Quarters Championship

The Savannah Quarters Championship will mark the first of six $300,000 events on the 2009 eGolf Tarheel Tour. The Greg Norman-designed Savannah Quarters course will host 156 of the best players in the world on April 1-4 and will surely create buzz throughout the developmental-golf industry.

“After years of playing professionally myself, I could not have dreamed of playing for this much purse money on this level, let alone having six chances to do so in a single season,” said eGolf Tarheel Tour president David Siegel, who founded the tour in 2002 in hopes of creating better playing opportunities. “We are excited to offer what can only be called the most lucrative tournaments outside of the PGA and Nationwide Tours in all of North America.”

The course, which was originally a Bob Cupp design, was the first re-design of Norman’s distinguished career as a golf course architect. At just over 7,000 yards, the course is not overly long by modern standards, but it provides ample opportunities for risk/reward shots, including two drivable par-4s that will tempt virtually every player. As with most Norman designs, Savannah Quarters demands that players miss their approaches on the correct side of the green as penal swales and collection areas highlight a bevy of trouble for players not trusting their short games.

“We have built a reputation for playing the best courses in the industry, and players are going to sense that when they step foot on Savannah Quarters. It is a course that is ready to host and challenge every player for an event of this stature,” said Siegel.

Players to Watch for at the Savannah Quarters Championship:

Blake Adams

The easy-going bomber from Eaton, GA returns to his native state after a runner-up finish in the tour’s FairwayStyles.com Open on March 13th. Adams, who has conditional Nationwide Tour status this year, is likely to use plenty of his 320 yards drives on the Greg Norman design that features relatively wide fairways and plenty of long holes. In addition, Adams has one other thing working for him next week: He owns the course record.

Tim O’Neal

The fan favorite next week is sure to be none other than O’Neal, who lives in Savannah and plays at Savannah Quarters. While he missed the cut in the tour’s first event of 2009, O’Neal is no stranger to success after recording two top-50 finishes on the Nationwide Tour money list in the past four years. O’Neal has twice missed securing his PGA Tour card by a single shot at Q-School Finals and

Matt Davidson

If you hear a loud noise at Savannah Quarters, it likely did not come from Davidson. The soft-spoken New Jersey native usually lets his game speak for him and has picked up in 2009 where he left off in 2008. Davidson claimed the Tour Championship at the end of 2008 and immediately racked up a T2 finish at the season-opening FairwayStyles.com Open. Davidson, a former PGA Tour player, has more than adapted to playing in the South after a standout career at Furman University and plenty of success on Bermuda grass.

David Robinson

Robinson is certainly a favorite going into the Savannah Quarters Championship. In other news, the sky is still blue and taxes are due by April 15th. Robinson, who shattered eGolf Tarheel Tour earnings records in 2008 with over $105,000 in money earnings, has Nationwide Tour status this year, but played the first two events of the season with limited success – by his standards. Two top-30 finishes have Robinson at No. 23 on the money list, but the Sandersville, GA native is not likely to stay down for long as a return to his home state is sure to ignite a spark.

BMW Charity Pro-Am Exemption Update

Through two of four 54-hole events that make up the first BMW Charity Pro-Am Exemption, Kyle Dobbs is leading the way thanks in part to his win at the FairwayStyles.com Open. With his win and his T26 finish at the Pine Needles Classic, the Ann Arbor, MI native has amassed $32,006 in earnings and sits nearly $15,000 ahead of Michael Henderson, who sits in second place in the race which is reserved for members only. Henderson’s playoff loss at the Pine Needles Classic moved him well up the charts as the Raleigh, NC native was comfortable on the Donald Ross-designed Mid Pines layout - a venue at which he had much success as a junior golfer. 2008 Tour Championship winner Matt Davidson sits in third place, with Chris Baker and David Sanchez tied for fourth.

The remaining two events which count towards the exemption are the Bushnell Championship on April 8-10 and the Snap Fitness Open on April 30-May 1.

Current BMW Exemption Standings:

1. Kyle Dobbs $32,006

2. Michael Henderson $17,288

3. Matt Davidson $15,000

4. Chris Baker $13,250

4. David Sanchez $13,250

6. Stephen Poole Jr. $8,804

7. Ryan Carter $8,500

8. Alex Hamilton $7,750

9. William McGirt $7,375

10. Doug Garwood $7,333