Quackenbush and Gainey Share The Lead

Jonathan Fricke

Indian Trail, NC. – 2006 Southern Open champion Brian Quackenbush and Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey each fired opening-round 65s in the Tarheel Tour’s MonaVie Open on Wednesday and will share a one-shot lead over two players heading into Thursday’s second round.

Quackenbush, who has played six events as a non-member this year on the Nationwide Tour, began his round on Charlotte National’s front nine with a benign par at the straight-forward par-4 first before going on quite the tear. The former University of Virginia star managed to birdie the next six holes and threaten an opening nine in the 20s before a bogey at the ninth slowed him down. Birdies at 10, 13, and 14 brought him back to eight-under par and in control of the first round, but a bogey at the fickle par-4 18th left him with 65 and holding the solo lead throughout much of the day.

Gainey, who played in the afternoon, has found success lately on the first day as evidenced by his opening-round 63 two weeks ago at the Stonebridge Classic, where he also wound up in the lead. The long-hitting Southerner used firm fairways to his advantage on Wednesday and managed to play the par-5s in four-under par for the day. Gainey failed to record a single bogey in his first round and is now in position to capture his second Tarheel Tour title of the 2007 season. In 10 tournaments this year, Gainey has six top-five finishes and has registered only four rounds over par.

All-time Tarheel Tour money leader Matt Cannon and Ben McClung each carded rounds of 66 on Wednesday and trail Quackenbush and Gainey by a shot each. Cannon has played countless rounds at Charlotte National, but it didn’t show early on as he found himself one-over par through seven holes and looking for help. After a birdie at the par-4 eighth, help came in the form of the back nine as Cannon played holes No. 11-18 in six-under par. Without a doubt, Cannon has been the hottest player on the Tarheel Tour in the past two months. Since missing the cut at the Spring Creek Classic, Cannon has recorded 14 of his past 16 rounds in the 60s and has amassed more than $36,000 in winnings.

While Cannon struggled early, McClung did anything but. The former Vanderbilt Commodore used three birdies and an eagle at the reachable par-5 seventh to go out in 31 in his first round. The torrid pace would slow down on the back nine as one birdie and eight pars left the Jacksonville, FL resident with a bogey-free round and an eye towards his first Tarheel Tour title. McClung, as are most players in the MonaVie Open, is preparing himself for PGA Tour Qualifying School this fall, where he hopes to successfully gain his tour card and join former Vanderbilt teammate Brandt Snedeker amongst the game’s greats.

Dry conditions throughout the region and at Charlotte National allowed players to record 300-yard drives with their 3-woods and approach many greens with nothing more than a wedge. However, the flipside of the firm fairway is the firm green, which gave many players fits in the afternoon wave as scores seemed to be much higher than in the morning wave.

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