Three Players Tied For The Lead After One Round At The Manor

Farmville, V.A. – Scott Usher of Johns Island, SC carded a 6-under 66 on Wednesday in the Tarheel Tour’s inaugural Manor Classic and is tied with Andy Bare and Sean Szcerencits heading into Thursday’s second round.

Usher’s bogey-free 66 included 12 pars and birdies on Nos. 1, 5, 6, 8, 14, and 18. Usher’s round comes as a nice surprise after missed cuts at each of the first two events of the 2008 season. In fact, the 66 marked his first round of par or better this year on the Tarheel Tour.

Bare, who finished fifth on the 2007 Tarheel Tour money list, carded six birdies and an eagle to finish the day tied with Usher. Bares lone blemish was a double bogey five on the tricky par-3 fourth hole. Bare is seeking his second career Tarheel Tour win, his first was at the Warrior Classic in 2006.

Sean Szcerencits managed to make eight birdies on the lush Rick Robbins layout to go with two bogeys to finish the day tied with Bare and Usher at 6-under par. Szcerencits, like Usher, is looking to put a disappointing start to the 2008 season behind him after missing both cuts in the Tarheel Tour Low Country Series back in March. The Coplay, PA native is looking to follow in the footsteps of TPGG Classic champion Paul Butler who followed a missed cut at the Rivertowne Open with his first Tarheel Tour title. Butler opened with a 2-under par 70 and is tied for 23rd heading into Thursday’s second round.

Five players sit one shot behind the trio of leaders including Oxford, CT native Steve Sokol. Sokol began his round on No. 10 at the Manor Golf Club with birdies on two of his first three holes. He would add one at the par-3 15th and another at the par-5 18th to turn in 4-under-par 32. Birdies at Nos. 1 and 4 would take Sokol to six under, but a bogey at the par-3 seventh took him back to five under, where he would eventually end his day.

Sokol’s good play through 18 holes may have been the result of a recent honor bestowed upon him. On March 29th, he was inducted into the Florida Southern College Athletic Hall of Fame along with eight other inductees, including Kansas City Royals pitcher Brett Tomko. Sokol won the Division II National Championship in 2001 in a four-hole playoff over Kevin Warrick and Mark Lawless.

The Manor Golf Club was recognized by Golf Digest as one of the “Best New Courses of 2007,” and the course received nothing but rave reviews from the 134-player field as scoring conditions were ideal.

At the end of the first round, 50 players managed to card rounds under par on Wednesday. After Thursday’s second round, the field will be cut to the low 47 players and ties. The second round will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.