Kevin Silva

Silva Grabs Lead with Second Round 65

Marvin, NC- 2008 U.S. Open participant Kevin Silva backed up a first round 68 with a 7-under-par 65 in the second round to take the lead in the Tarheel Tour’s Firethorne Open on Thursday Afternoon.

The former University of North Carolina golfer carded eight birdies against just a single bogey to reach 11-under-par for the tournament. Silva, originally from New Bedford, MA, has recorded three top twenty finishes this season in seven starts on the Tarheel Tour, with his best finish being a tie for eighth place at the Bermuda Run Open in May.

Silva holds a tenuous one-shot lead heading into the final round over 2008 Southern Open Champion Ted Brown. Brown, who started the day in third place, birdied his final hole to move into second place on his own after carding a 4-under-par 68. Paired with his first round 66, the former Virginia Commonwealth standout is at 10-under-par for the tournament. The Canadian born Brown will enter Friday with a chance to join Andy Bare and David Robinson as a two-time winner this season on the Tarheel Tour.

Former University of Georgia player Bryant Odom and Blasdell, NY native Matthew Thomas jumped up the leader board to share third place after carding second round 66’s on Thursday afternoon. The pair reached 9-under-par for the tournament after 36 holes, but each went about getting there in a different fashion. Odom, went out in a sparkling 30 on the front nine, but could only manage nine solid pars on the inward half. Thomas on the other hand, went out in 32, but a bogey at the 11th followed by five consecutive pars put him just 3-under-par for the day. He then proceeded to finish eagle-birdie on 17 and 18 to post a 6-under-par 66. Thomas, along with Cabarrus Classic runner-up Matt Mincer, also witnessed playing competitor Paul Brown record a hole-in-one at the par-three-third hole during the second round. Mincer, is in a share of 12th place after a pair of 70’s and Brown, with the help of his ace, fired his second consecutive even-par 72 to make the cut.

A blustery wind from mid-morning until mid-afternoon made scoring quite difficult for the entire morning wave. The wind tapered off around 4:00 p.m. ET, giving the afternoon players better scoring conditions down the final few holes. Of the top eleven players, only Gregg Jones and Chris Gallagher played in the morning on Thursday. Fifty-one players survived the 36-hole cut which fell at even-par 144.

The final round of the Tarheel Tour’s Firethorne Open will begin on Friday at 8:00 a.m. on the first and tenth tees, with the leaders teeing off #1 shortly after 9:00 a.m. The public is welcome to watch as the best players in developmental tour golf try to get a leg up on the competition in the EGOLF Points Race, as well as challenge for the Firethorne Open title on Friday at Firethorne Country Club.