Luke List

Tarheel Tour Set to Make Initial Visit to River Hills

Lake Wylie, SC- The Charlotte, NC based Tarheel Tour is making its first trip to beautiful Lake Wylie, SC for the River Hills Open at River Hills Country Club July 16-18. Lake Wylie is located just twenty minutes from downtown Charlotte just across the North Carolina/South Carolina Border.The 6704-yard par-72 layout at River Hills Country Club is one of the shortest courses on the Tarheel Tour but is very narrow with plenty of trouble lurking on the majority of the holes.

The field of 130 players will include five of the nine winners in 2008 on the Tarheel Tour. One of those players who will be looking for his second win in as many months is Bermuda native Michael Sims. Despite a late start on the Tarheel Tour this season (his first event was in late May), and only playing in five of eleven events through the Pete Dye Classic, he has managed to record three top ten finishes, including a win at the Spring Creek Classic and is currently 10th on the money list with $26,050. Sims is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, and spent 2007 as a member of the Nationwide Tour where he made $39,000 in 27-events.

In addition to Sims, the top three leaders on the money list are also in the field. Sandersville, GA native David Robinson and Jacksonville, FL resident Andy Bare will each be looking for their third win of the year, while Kevin Kisner, who is third on the money list in just seven events, will be looking for his second. Former Wofford standout William McGirt and Fort Payne, AL native Scott Weatherly have both had an excellent year so far, but each will be looking to make the River Hills Open his first win of 2008. Weatherly and McGirt each have recorded six top ten finishes on the Tarheel Tour in 2008, which puts them comfortably inside the top ten on the money list. Other notables expected to play at River hills are Jay Haas Jr, Luke List, 2008 US Open participant Fernando Figueroa, and the Tarheel Tour’s all time leading money winner, Matt Cannon.

The River Hills Open will be a 54-hole event with a cut after 36 holes to the top 35 percent. The field of 132 players will be competing for an estimated purse of $106,000 with a winner’s check of $17,000. The River Hills Open is the thirteenth of twenty events on the Tarheel Tour in 2008. The first round will begin on Wednesday, July 16 at 8:00 a.m. on the first and tenth tees. The format will remain the same on Thursday for the second round, with those making the cut playing in the final round on Friday. In accordance with all Tarheel Tour events, the River Hills Open is open to the public and free of charge.