Hendry Maintains Lead at Pete Dye Classic

Radford, VA- First round leader Joel Hendry fired a 3-under-par 69 to double his first round lead to two strokes heading into the final round of the Tarheel Tour’s inaugural Pete Dye Classic at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech.

Hendry’s four birdie; one bogey performance gave him an 8-under-par 136 total and a two stroke edge over 2007 Salisbury Classic Champion Ryan Blaum. The former ACC Individual Champion backed up a bogey-free 68 in the first round with a second round 2-under-par 70 to put him alone in second place heading into Thursday’s final round. Among Blaum’s many career accomplishment’s is a fifteenth place finish in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open back in March.

Bermuda Run Classic runner-up Jason Kokrak shares third place with Blasdell, NY native Matthew Thomas at 5-under-par. Kokrak offset four bogeys with five birdies in his second round to shoot a 1-under-par 71 and grab a share of third. Thomas backed up a mediocre first round of 1-over-par 73 with a course record 6-under-par 66 on Wednesday morning. Thomas is looking to improve on his best Tarheel Tour finish which was a 17th place showing at last week’s event at Spring Creek Golf Club in Gordonsville, VA. Thomas’ course record was tied later in the morning by North Augusta, SC native Kyle Bradley, whose 66 helped him safely make the cut at 2-under-par. Both players had an opportunity to finish one shot better, but were foiled by the 495 yard par-4 18th.

The course played a bit longer during the second round, measuring 7,362 yards but almost no breeze contributed to a slightly lower scoring average of 73.73 in the second round. In total 49 players survived the 36-hole cut which fell at 3-over-par 147 on the very difficult Pete Dye signature course.

The Tarheel Tour’s Pete Dye Classic at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech will conclude on Thursday with the final round beginning at 7:30 a.m. on the first and tenth tees. The course is expected to play near its maximum length of 7,665 yards during Thursday’s final round, and should test every area of these players’ games. In accordance with all Tarheel Tour events, the Pete Dye Classic is open to the public and free of charge.

Next week the Tarheel Tour makes its final trip to the state of Virginia in 2008 at the Pete Dye Classic in Radford, VA. The Pete Dye Virginia Tech course measures 7,665 yards and will be the longest course in Tarheel Tour history. Look for updates next week on www.tarheeltour.com as the event begins on Tuesday, June 24.

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