Borchert Leads By Two After Two Rounds In Salisbury

Matthew Borchert

Salisbury, NC. – Matthew Borchert battled cold conditions and a swirling wind to shoot a second-round 66 in the Tarheel Tour's second-annual Salisbury Classic on Thursday and takes a two-shot lead into Friday's final round at the Country Club of Salisbury.

Borchert began his round on the second nine and promptly made birdies on 11, 13, and 15, thus turning with a three-under-par 33. The Orlando, FL native kept it going on the Donald Ross-designed front side, carding three more birdies before a bogey at the tricky par-4 eighth ruined what was an otherwise bogey-free round. Borchert's five-under-par round of 66 left him at nine-under 133 for the event and in turn puts him in the driver's seat heading into what promises to be a cold and windy final round.

Newcomer Matt Blaum posted a second-round 66 to finish with a 36-hole total of seven-under-par 135. Blaum, a native of Cleveland, OH and a former ACC Individual Champion at while at Duke University, made four birdies and an eagle in his round. A bogey at the short par-3 seventh was the only blemish that stood in the way of Blaum tying Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey and Matt Every for the low round of the day with 65. Blaum opened the event with a 69 on Wednesday, and will be playing in the final group in his maiden voyage on the Tarheel Tour.

Several players are within shouting distance of Borchert heading into the final round. Included in that group is Every, one of the stars on the Golf Channel's current “Big Break” series. The former University of Florida All-American opened his first Tarheel Tour event with an even-par 71 in Wednesday's first round, which left him in the middle of the pack headed into round two. Every began his second round on the front nine at the Country Club of Salisbury and fired a better than average one-under-par 34 early on when temperatures were hovering around 45 degrees and the wind was blowing over 15 mph. But as the temperature started to rise the 2006 Ben Hogan Award winner started to get hot himself. Every made pars on holes 10-12 before finishing his round with birdies on five of his last six holes to finish off his 65 in style, jumping into a tie for third at 6-under par, three shots behind Borchert.

Also tied for third is 2006 Stonebridge Open champion Jeff Curl. The son of former PGA Tour winner Rod Curl made four birdies and a bogey to fire his second-consecutive round of 68 and leaves him one great round from capturing his first Tarheel Tour title in 2007.

Ryan Gioffre and Kyle Gallo round out the foursome of players sitting at six-under-par 136, three off the lead. Gioffre, a graduate of Wake Forest, added a second- round 70 to his opening-round 66 and in turn left the Greensboro, NC native poised to capture his first top-10 finish since the Sapona Classic back in May. Gallo, a 2006 member of the Nationwide Tour, also opened with rounds of 66-70.

The cut fell at one-under-par 141, leaving 49 players to battle it out for the $103,400 purse and first prize of $16,000. As always, the public is welcome to watch the PGA Tour stars of tomorrow free of charge at the Country Club of Salisbury.