Concord, NC – Chris Epperson of Hilton Head Island, SC spent past winters working not on his golf game, but for his family's air conditioning business. While some players worked on pitch shots, Epperson worked on lowering your AC bills. This past winter was his first spent working solely on his golf game, and it's already paying off. A first-round 65 in the eGolf Tour's Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com on Wednesday gave Epperson a one-shot lead with 54 holes still to play.

Epperson began his first round on the back nine at Cabarrus Country Club, which is co-hosting the event with River Run Country Club in Davidson, NC. With birdies to be had at Cabarrus, Epperson did little to threaten the lead with two birdies against seven pars on his outgoing nine.

"I started really slow and never got anything going," said Epperson. "I was able to turn at 34, but knew I could do better than that."

Chris EppersonOn the front nine at Cabarrus, his back nine, Epperson managed to do slightly better. Birdies at Nos. 2 and 4 gave way to a threesome of birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8.

"I just started making putts. It was really a boring round of golf that wound up as a good score," said Epperson, who used the trifecta to get to 7-under on his round. "I was turning the ball over a bit too much early on, but then I started hitting it flush."

A near miss for birdie at the par-4 ninth gave the former Armstrong Atlantic State University golfer a round of 65 and the first-round lead.

"This is the first winter that I've ever been able to focus on just golf," said Epperson. "I've always worked for my family's air conditioning business and practicing was more or less a part-time job as compared to that full-time job. I would work a little less during the season, but I was always working."

A rough winter gave Epperson a bit of a head start on others in the Southeast who may have viewed the frigid and dreary conditions as a deterrent to practicing. At the end of the day, anything was better than the working world.

"I just got used to being cold and wet this offseason, so the conditions in these early events didn't faze me," said Epperson. "I don't have to play catch up with everyone who gets to practice all the time. Making golf my full-time job has made a huge difference."

Trailing Epperson by a single shot are Chase Carroll (Knoxville, TN), Dustin Bray (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and former PGA TOUR player Joe Daley (Scottsdale, AZ).

Carroll began his round on the back nine at Cabarrus and notched birdies at Nos. 11 and 12 before adding a third at the par-5 18th to turn at 3-under 33. A quartet of birdies on Nos. 1-4 put the former Tusculum College standout at 7-under for his round and eyeing more with five to play, but a bogey at the par-3 fifth offset the hot start and left him at 6-under, where he would eventually finish.

Carroll's college career at Tusculum was highly touted and featured six individual titles and numerous school records. As a senior, he was named the South Atlantic Conference player of the year and won the conference title. Following a summer of amateur golf, Carroll turned professional in September of 2009. The Cabarrus Classic marks only the second career start on the eGolf Tour for Carroll after missing the cut at the 2009 eGolf Tour Championship.

Six players are tied for fifth following rounds of 5-under 67, all of which were carded at Cabarrus. Among the six are 2009 Walker Cup teammates Drew Weaver and Brian Harman, as well as 2008 leading money winner David Robinson.

Weaver, a Virginia Tech graduate, won the British Amateur in 2007 (the first American to do so in nearly 30 years) and made national headlines for doing so after he was on campus during the massacre in Blacksburg, VA. The Hokie "All American" was in the building adjacent to the shootings, and in turn his win at the British Amateur was deemed a signal of pride by the school.

One of the most decorated amateurs in recent memory, Weaver vaulted into the living rooms of millions of golf fans when, as a 22-year-old amateur, he contended at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. The High Point, NC native has missed the cut in each of his first two starts on the eGolf Tour by a single shot.

The low round of the day at River Run was carded by Tadd Fujikawa of Honolulu, HI. Fujikawa, who earned national acclaim when he qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open at the age of 15, used five birdies en route to a 4-under 68 on the Robert Walker-designed layout.

The second round of the Cabarrus Classic will begin at both Cabarrus and River Run Country Clubs at 8:20 AM on Thursday morning. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.