Bray Claims Runner-Up Spot in Columbus  

Columbus, OH- 2006 Tarheel Tour leading money winner and current Tarheel Tour player Dustin Bray fired a 2-under-par 69 in Sunday’s final round of the Nationwide Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Ohio to finish just one shot back of Champion Bill Lunde.

Bray, a former All-American at the University of North Carolina, missed a 13 foot birdie putt on the final hole but tapped in for a par to post a 4-under-par total of 280 around the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University. Playing several groups ahead of the leaders, Bray was two shots behind third round leader Bill Lunde, but with several difficult holes left, Bray had set a target score that very easily could get him into a playoff for the title. After former Tarheel Tour player Brendon de Jonge bogeyed the final hole to finish one behind Bray, and Bill Lunde bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes, Bray was co-leading with Lunde who still had the difficult 17th and 18th to play. After getting up and down from the greenside bunker on 17 for par, Lunde needed a birdie on the 410-yard dogleg left par-four 18th to claim the title. Lunde, who clearly was struggling with his driver, hit his tee shot down the right side and well through the fairway beyond the thick rough and trees. The 32-year old, who hails from San Diego, CA, found a patch of sparse rough and an unobstructed line to the green, from where he hit a decent shot which rolled just off the left fringe about 30 feet from the hole. From there, the former UNLV standout shockingly holed the chip shot to rob Bray of at least a shot at a playoff.

Despite having the title somewhat stolen from him, the positives for the week by far outweigh the disappointment of the stunning defeat. The Asheboro, NC native began the week as the tenth alternate, before eventually moving his way into the field before Thursday’s first round. If it wasn’t for a change in policy, Bray wouldn’t have even been on the alternate list. In an unprecedented move, the Nationwide Tour in 2008 decided to do away with the 14-spot Monday qualifier for the $1 Million event at the Pete Dye Golf Club in West Virginia and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus. The 144-player fields in each of these events were completed by using the money list, regardless of a player’s status. Bray, who had earned his way into five Nationwide Tour events through Monday qualifiers and subsequent top-25 finishes, was 150th on the money list, making him the tenth alternate at the start of the week. As a result of his second place finish this week, he earned $81,000 in official money, jumping him 105 spots into 45th on the current money list. So what does this mean for Bray? First, it guarantees that he will finish in the top-100 on the final money list for 2008, which will at the very least give him conditional status on the Nationwide Tour in 2009. More importantly, it gives him an excellent chance at maintaining his position in the top-60 on the money list, which would give him full Nationwide Tour status in 2009 as well as an exemption into final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School this December. Bray also has an outside shot at finishing in the top-25 by season’s end, which would earn him his PGA Tour card for 2009.

The former ACC Individual Champion was a far cry from a chance at getting his 2009 PGA Tour Card this winter after a series of mishaps. After finishing just 115th on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list, and making just 7 of 28 cuts playing full time on the Nationwide Tour in 2007, Bray was forced to go back to first stage of qualifying school, where he failed to advance. With no status for 2008, Bray was back to chasing Monday qualifiers, and playing on developmental tours such as the Tarheel Tour, which he had dominated in 2006.

After the cancellation of the Tarheel Tour’s Patriots Point Classic in late February due to high winds, Bray missed the next two events because he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. This put his 2008 season debut on hold until the Tarheel Tour’s Manor Classic in early April. After a tie for second at the Manor, Bray has successfully qualified for several Nationwide Tour events as well as competing in eight events on the Tarheel Tour with four top-20 finishes to his credit. Bray, who now resides in Mount Pleasant, SC will be looking to continue his hot play and move up the Nationwide Tour money list this week at the Cox Classic in Omaha, Nebraska.

Notes:

PGA Tour

Former Tarheel Tour player and current PGA Tour player Steve Marino closed with a final round 1-under-par 70 at Glen Abbey Golf Club to finish tied for third in the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open. For his efforts, the former University of Virginia standout earned $290,000 and 1,450 FedEx Cup Points. As a result, Marino moved up twenty spots into 31st in the FedEx Cup Standings. Marino has earned at least a spot in the field in the first three PGA Tour Playoff Events leading up to the Tour Championship at East Lake, where the top-30 in the FedEx Cup standings following the third playoff event will compete. Marino also moved up to 35th on the 2008 PGA Tour money list with just over $1.46 million in earnings. He has also qualified for the PGA Championship in two weeks at Oakland Hills CC in Birmingham, Michigan. Marino just made it in to the season’s final major as he moved from 74th to 59th in a separate money list from the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational through the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. The top 70 players from this list earn an exemption in the 2008 PGA Championship.

Nationwide Tour

In addition to Dustin Bray’s outstanding performance, several other Tarheel Tour Players had success in Columbus. Rivertowne Open participant Brendon de Jonge finished tied for third and earned $39,000. The 2003 Virginia Tech graduate jumped from 23rd to 14th on the Nationwide Tour Money List as a result of his third 3rd place finish of the season. De Jonge has given himself a bit more breathing room as he is now comfortably within the top-25 on the money list. The top 25 on the money list at season’s end earn a trip to the PGA Tour in 2009.

Former Tarheel Tour winner Garth Mulroy finished tied for 6th in Columbus, earned $22,687, and jumped from 70th on the money list to 57th. The former N.C. State All-American is in his third full season on the Nationwide Tour.

Blake Adams recorded an even-par 284 total on the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University and finished tied for 17th. As a result of his top-25 finish, the Eatonton, GA native earned a spot in this week’s Cox Classic on the Nationwide Tour. Adams earned $10,181 for his efforts and jumped from 110th on the money list to 99th position.

Other current and former Tarheel Tour Players who made the cut in Columbus include:

Kris Blanks T17
Brendon Todd T31
Casey Wittenberg T31
Camilo Benedetti T40
Bubba Dickerson T40
Matt Bettencourt T70
Reid Edstrom 77