Deason and Brown Set the Early Mark in Goldsboro  

Goldsboro, NC – Chip Deason and Scott Brown each carded rounds of 7-under 64 in the first round of the EGOLF Tarheel Tour’s Walnut Creek Open on Wednesday and share the 18-hole lead as a group of four players sit one shot back.

Deason rekindled a previously shaky relationship with his putter as his round began on the front nine at Walnut Creek Country Club and quickly turned into a plethora of riches. Birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 quickly put the former University of Alabama star ahead of the curve and well under par. A birdie at the par-4 eighth allowed Deason to make the turn at 5-under 31 and a back-nine 33 left him atop the morning leaderboard after a bogey-free 64.

For Aiken, SC-native Brown, his afternoon round of 64 was alas a good result for a player of whom much was expected entering the 2008 season. Brown claimed two EGOLF Tarheel Tour titles in 2007 and finished third on the money list with earnings of just over $55,000. While 2008 has only revealed one missed cut in 12 starts, Brown has yet to claim a single top-5 finish and currently sits at No. 25 on the money list. Brown’s first round was literally flawless with seven birdies and nine pars through 16 holes until a bogey at the par-4 17th dropped him back one shot, only to be recovered with a birdie at the last.

The two players sit atop a stacked leaderboard with four players one shot back: Kevin Kisner, Luke List, Fernando Mechereffe and Matthew Thomas. Of the four, Kisner is the only one to taste victory on the EGOLF Tarheel Tour this year with a win at the Bermuda Run Open in May.