Trio Goes For Third Win of 2008 at River Run  

Davidson, NC- Ted Brown, Andy Bare and David Robinson, the top three players on the 2008 Tarheel Tour money list, will play the first two rounds together at the River Run Classic beginning Tuesday at River Run Country Club in Davidson, NC. The trio of players will battle each other as well as the rest of the 156-player field as they each look for their third win of the season on the Tarheel Tour.

Brown, a Canadian who resides in Richmond, VA, will be looking for his third win in four starts as he has clearly dominated the later summer stretch on the Tarheel Tour. Andy Bare of Jacksonville, FL, whose hot streak ran through most of the spring and early summer with a pair of wins, is looking to get back to the winner circle after a nice summer stretch on the Nationwide Tour. Robinson, who got off to a hot start in the beginning of the season with two wins in his first four starts, still holds a commanding lead on the money list thanks in part to his 10 top-10 finishes this season. This week he will be looking to start his push to clinch the money title and enter the battle for the EGOLF Points Race.

The Tarheel Tour’s return to the newly-renovated River Run Country Club comes nearly 17 months after the 2007 River Run Classic, won by 2008 Nationwide Tour winner David Mathis. Immediately following that event in early April of 2007, River Run’s renovation began with the reseeding of greens as well as the addition of several new teeing areas.

In addition to the top three players on the Money List, the full field of 156 players will include the regular list of challengers including Southern Open runner-up Jeff Curl. Curl took advantage of a sponsor’s exemption last week at the Nationwide Tour’s Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, recording at tie for ninth. With the Nationwide Tour off next week, the former Charlotte 49er standout will look to continue his good play in the River Run Classic before returning to the Nationwide Tour in two weeks at the Utah Championship. The Ellington, CT native is 14th on the current money list in just seven events on the Tarheel Tour in 2008.

Another player who is likely to be in the mix this week is Boiling Spring, SC native Tommy Biershenk. The former Clemson University All-American won in his last start on the Tarheel Tour a month ago at the Lake Hickory Open at Catwaba Springs, and is currently eighth on the season money list with $39,277 in earnings.

The River Run Classic, in addition to being the final event of the summer on the Tarheel Tour, is the second of six events in the EGOLF Points Race and is the first of four events in the S & K Fall Finale Series. Similar to the EGOLF Points Race, the S & K Series will award an 8,000 point purse each week to the top twenty members in each event, with 2,000 points going to the winner. At the end of the four events concluding at the Walnut Creek Open, the leader in points will receive $500 in S & K merchandise, and $500 in cash. The top five players in S & K points will also receive S & K merchandise.

The 156-player field will compete in the 54-hole event, with a cut to the low 35% following the second round on Wednesday. Those surviving the cut will challenge for the $20,000 first-place check and a share of the $127,500 purse. The first round of competition begins at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 26.