FIESE AND BRISSON TIED AFTER ONE ROUND IN SALISBURY

DJ Fiese

Salisbury, NC. – D.J. Fiese and Cortney Brisson each carded opening rounds of 65 in the Tarheel Tour's second-annual Salisbury Classic on Wednesday and share a one-shot lead over four players heading into Thursday's second round.

Fiese, who was in the first group off at 8 A.M. this morning, got off to a fast start on the classic Donald Ross-designed Country Club of Salisbury layout. Pars at the first two holes quickly gave way to an eagle at the par-5 third, which would be followed by birdies at the par-4 fourth and the par-3 sixth. A front-nine 31 brought the Smyrna, GA native to the par-4 10th, where he would add yet another birdie and dive further under par. However, golf has a way of keeping one's best play in perspective and Fiese certainly fell victim to that theory with a double-bogey at the benign par-4 11th. Birdies on three of his last four holes left the former Georgia State star with a 65, which is his fourth round of 65 or better in six events on the Tarheel Tour this year. Fiese made headlines when he carded a second-round 62 earlier this year on his way to capturing the Olde Scyamore Open in Charlotte.

Brisson also began his round on the front nine and was off to a similar start with birdies on three of his first seven holes. The 2003 U.S. Open participant would find a bad similarity with Fiese after recording a double bogey of his own at the par-4 11th. While Fiese waited until the end of his round to recoup the lost strokes, Brisson got back in line on the very next hole. The Wallace, NC native, known throughout the mini-tour ranks for his God-given talent, would record a birdie at the par-4 12th and then proceed to go eagle-birdie-birdie on the next three holes. Brisson was six under through 15 holes and that is where he would finish, with a round of 65. Brisson is playing in only his third Tarheel Tour event of the year after taking a lengthy hiatus from competitive golf.

Rob Johnson, Kyle Gallo, Drew Bowen, and Ryan Gioffre all opened with rounds of 66 and find themselves trailing Fiese and Brisson by a single shot. Of the foursome, Gioffre was the only one without a blemish on his card as his round featured five birdies and 13 pars.

Defending champion Jason Martin opened with a round of 69 on Wednesday and is currently tied for 26th.

The Salisbury Classic features three current and one former star of the Golf Channel's “Big Break” series. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, who won the “Big Break Reunion” series, carded a round of one-over-par 72 on Wednesday, marking only the seventh time in 37 rounds on the Tarheel Tour this year that Gainey has posted a round over par. Current “Big Break” stars Matt Vick, Matt Every, and Kevin Taylor watched themselves on TV last night and teed it up at the Salisbury Classic today. Vick recorded the low round of the threesome with a two-under-par 69, while Every and Taylor posted rounds of 71 and 74, respectively.

The second round will begin at 8:00 A.M. on Thursday morning. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.