Birdies Dominate The Southern Open

Concord, NC – South African Shaun Norris backed up his opening-round 63 in the Tarheel Tour’s Southern Open with a second-round 66 and now takes a one shot lead heading into Saturday’s dramatic final round.

Norris began his round on the front nine at defenseless Cabarrus Country Club and quickly built on his day one momentum. The native of Johannesburg carded three birdies in his first six holes before a bogey on the uphill par-3 seventh slowed his momentum. The momentary setback was quickly forgotten as Norris reeled off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch from Nos. 8-14, briefly bringing him to 17-under-par for the event. Unfortunately, bogeys at 16 and 18 left him at 15-under-par 129 and shrunk his cushion over two of the Tarheel Tour’s top guns.

Current Tarheel Tour money list leader William McGirt continued his summer destruction of the Carolinas with a second-round 64 that was virtually flawless. The Boiling Springs, SC resident dropped eight birdies against 10 pars and quickly flew up the blood red leaderboard. Just how good is McGirt playing? Through 36 holes he has recorded 12 birdies, one eagle, and zero bogeys! One of the top match play artists in his amateur days, McGirt was likely eyeing the final pairing on Saturday and the chance to go toe-to-toe with some of professional golf’s best players.

sponsored links TITLEIST Learn about Titleist golf balls, golf clubs and accessories. BUSHNELL This is life, and this is how we magnify it.

The third member of that final pairing is none other than former Charlotte 49er star Jeff Curl of Ellington, CT. The boisterous bomber of the golf ball is a threat in virtually every tournament he tees it up in, and this week is certainly no different. Curl set the early mark on Friday with a morning round of 66 that gave others something to shoot at. Curl’s six birdies in the second round came in bunches as he went below par on holes 1-2, 8-9, and 16-17.

The rounds of the day came from Andrew Suggs and 2007 Bermuda Run Open winner Scott Brown. Both players fired nine-under-par round of 63 and skyrocketed up the leaderboard. Suggs is T4 through two rounds and Brown is T10.

The soft conditions at Cabarrus Country Club have allowed players to hit iron shots as if they were throwing darts from four feet away. When the dust settled and the George Cobb-designed course had surrendered, 76 players made the cut at two-under-par 142.