Kannapolis, NC – Colton Turnquist of Bradenton, FL began the eGolf Tour season in rather disappointing fashion. Five missed cuts in his first five events was not exactly the fast start the former Baylor University golfer was looking for. Following a missed cut at the tour's Cowans Ford Open in May, it was time for a break. One week off turned into two weeks off, and before it was all said and done, the Texas native had taken two months away from tournaments – and that may be just what he needed.

Entering the opening round of the tour's sixth annual Southern Open, Turnquist had not played in an official tournament in over two months and had just began to start practicing again as recently as last week. Was it surgery, tragedy or swing changes? No, it was marital bliss – but not for him.

"Weddings, weddings and more weddings," Turnquist laughed. "I was in one wedding and the other two were ones I couldn't miss. They all coincided with our tournaments. I didn't touch a club from June 7th and U.S. Open sectionals until last week."

Yes, the loyalty one man shows another could only present itself in the form of a two-month hiatus from work and a promise to be there for a friend's wedding. And another friend, and another friend.

"Well, the one I was in was for Brian Noonan, who is here playing this week," said Turnquist, defending his decision with a smirk. "The others I was talked into, and it just kind of spiraled on from there."

Indeed it did. After missing out on this year's U.S. Open in early June, Turnquist looked at his upcoming festivus of weddings and opted to just put the clubs away. Not in the form of hitting balls here and there, but rather putting them in the trunk and in turn looking for them four weeks later.

"What was I going to do for a month," Turnquist asked of himself. "Just keep practicing and playing and then not play in anything? So I just took time off. It was actually kind of nice."

The beauty of not expecting to play well is that if you do happen to run into a string of birdies, you just kind of go with it.

"I didn't have any expectations this week, I was just coming out to try and find my game and see if I could get something to work," said the 26-year-old Turnquist.

After an opening nine of 1-under 34 at tournament co-host Warrior Golf Club, Turnquist's day took a turn for the better starting on the back nine of one of the tour's longest tenured venues.

A birdie at the arduous par-4 10th gave way to birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and set up what would be somewhat of a turning point for Turnquist at the short par-4 15th.

Just short of the green after his tee shot, Turnquist holed his approach for a dramatic eagle on the downhill hole and pushed his round-one tally to 6-under on the day. A birdie at the reachable par-5 17th would move him to 7-under, where he would eventually finish for 64.

"I didn't drive the ball well at all, but I hit a few greens and was able to make a few putts," Turnquist said of his round. "The hole-out on 15 helped, but it really wasn't a spectacular day by any means. I thought the scores would be much lower."

Turnquist's first-round 64, coming on the heels of what can best be described as a leave of absence after five missed cuts, puts forth the question of: Is it better to have zero expectations whatsoever?

"You can't be like that all the time, but having not played a tournament in two months, it helps to have no pressure," Turnquist said when posed with the question.

Almost every golfer can attest to the great round after a poor range session, just as easily as they can find a day when the practice went well and the scorecard went south. Turnquist has been on both sides of the coin, so he realizes it's a pretty fine line to walk.

Matt Hendrix"Expectations are good and bad. They can drive you to practice and work harder, but on the course they can force you to stress over 3- and 4-foot putts," he said. "They can cause you to sometimes worry about what can go wrong. You want to care, but you don't want to care."

Turnquist leads former Clemson University golfers Matt Hendrix and Danny Ellis, as well as South African Trevor Fisher by one shot with 54 holes still to play.

Hendrix, a former PGA TOUR player from Aiken, SC, posted the day's low round at tournament host The Club at Irish Creek with a 6-under 65 effort.

After two missed cuts in a three-tournament stretch in April/May, Hendrix's game seems to be back on point these days with top-30 finishes in his last four starts on tour. During that stretch, the former Walker Cup star only posted two out of 16 rounds over par. Arguably the best player on the eGolf Tour without a win, Hendrix is one year removed from a 2009 season in which he notched three runner-up finishes in just 14 starts.

Ellis, who will turn 40 this September, is competing in his third eGolf Tour event of the 2010 season, with T20 and T35 finishes in his prior two starts at the Grand Harbor Open and Bushnell Championship, respectively. Since finishing a standout Clemson career in 1994, Ellis has split time between the PGA and Nationwide Tours, spending full seasons on the former for much of the early 2000s.

Fisher, a native South African living part time in Arlington, TX, carded his bogey-free 65 at Warrior Golf Club.

Beginning on the par-4 10th, Fisher's tournament opened with a rather stagnant beginning featuring six consecutive pars on a benign layout usually open to low numbers. Birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 would allow him to turn at 2-under 34, and that is when his round began to take form.

Birdies at Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 quickly pushed Fisher to 6-under for the day, but a five-hole stretch of pars to finish his opening round would put him in the clubhouse with 65, tied for the lead.

For Fisher, competing in just his fourth career eGolf Tour event, the 6-under 65 marked his career best on tour. After missing the cut in his first start at the tour's Grand Harbor Open, Fisher put together T16 and T63 finishes, respectively, in his next two starts at the HGM Hotels Classic and the Bolle Classic.

Jeremy Pope, Braxton Hunter and Jhared Hack are tied for fifth after opening with rounds of 5-under 66.

Second-round play in the Southern Open will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning at both Irish Creek and Warrior. After the completion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 71 players and ties, with the final 36 holes being contested at Irish Creek. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.