Lake Wylie, SC – Brian Duncan of Mount Pleasant, SC entered the second round of the eGolf Tour’s River Hills Classic with a three-shot lead following a blistering 10-under 62 on Wednesday’s opening round of the 72-hole event. On day two at tournament host River Hills Country Club, Duncan overcame a shaky start to post a 2-under 69 to reach 12-under at the event’s halfway point, and will now take a one shot lead into Friday’s third round.

The River Hills Classic is the 10th of 24 events on the 2012 eGolf Professional Tour schedule, and is being contested this week at both River Hills Country Club in Lake Wylie, SC and Palisades Country Club in Charlotte, NC.

Duncan’s 10-under opening round effort at Palisades on Wednesday left little doubt as to how well the current Nationwide Tour member was playing. Ten birdies – six of which fell in his last eight holes – pushed Duncan three clear of the field entering Thursday’s round at River Hills, a round that would prove to test his patience and his course management.

Steady pars on Nos. 1 and 2 brought the 28-year-old Duncan to the par-3 third, where he made his first bogey of the tournament. A bounce-back birdie at the par-5 fourth took him back to even on the day, but another par-3 bogey on No. 5 dropped him back down to 1-over – a peculiar position for a player who had gone bogey-free for 20 holes.

“It was a slow start out there today. I missed a few makeable putts on Nos. 1 and 2 and then made two bogeys in three holes,” said Duncan. “On No. 6, I made a good birdie putt. To be honest, that was a must-make putt for me. It kind of got the day going.”

The birdie at the par-5 sixth gave way to birdies on Nos. 7 and 8, which allowed Duncan to turn at 2-under 34 and 12-under for the week.

A clutch 10-foot par putt on No. 10 led to six consecutive pars for Duncan – a streak that was broken by a birdie at the downhill par-3 17th. At 13-under for the event and two clear of his nearest competitor, he bogeyed the short par-4 18th to finish off his 2-under 69 and his 12-under 131 total.

“It was tough out there, and I knew it would be,” said Duncan after his round. “It was really a game of patience, to be honest. I was hitting it good, I just really couldn’t convert anything.”

Rain early in the week gave way to somewhat soft conditions for Tuesday’s practice round, but over the first two days of tournament play, warm weather and a gentle breeze dried out both River Hills and Palisades, in turn allowing for firmer and faster conditions. Hole locations that were “green light” situations just 48 hours prior seemed “yellow light” at best on Thursday.

“The greens were firm and fast out there, and there were some pins where you really needed to stay below the hole,” Duncan said. “I felt pretty good about walking away at 2-under.”

For the most part, Duncan has played the eGolf Tour full time since 2006, when he finished up a solid career at NCAA powerhouse Clemson University. A number of close calls nearly resulted in wins for the former Tiger standout – none closer than the 2008 NorthStone Open, where he played his last two holes in 3-over par to lose by one to leading money winner David Robinson.

“That loss probably bothered me more than any other out here,” said Duncan, who said Robinson thanked him for the win a few days later. “I’m not going to sit here and act like I think about it now, but it definitely bothered me. I’ve played a lot of golf since then, and I know (a win) will happen.”

Duncan’s 2012 season has not provided many final-group scenarios, but it has been one of consistency. The Greenville, SC native is now 6-for-6 in cuts made on the year, and has posted 16 of 21 rounds at par or better. More than anything, Duncan seems to be calm and in the present this year, taking each round with a grain of salt.

After opening with 62, he felt that he could easily turn in a second-round 80. An outlook of “no expectations” with a simplified goal of “just playing golf” turned the hypothetical 80 into a realistic 69, and Duncan’s outlook seems to be much of the same for the final two rounds.

“Every round is kind of like a fresh canvas. I’m just going to play golf and stay within myself,” he said. “Hopefully I can just play my own game, and let the birdies fall. I know it going to be tough though, with how the course is playing. There is still a lot of golf left, so I can’t expect anything.”

Tied for second, one shot behind Duncan at 11-under 132 is Russell Surber of Orlando, FL and two-time eGolf Tour winner Drew Weaver of High Point, NC.

Surber, making his 2012 eGolf Tour debut, played brilliant golf on Thursday at Palisades. The former University of Texas star birdied six of his first nine holes for a stout 6-under 30 on his opening nine. A birdie at the par-5 12th gave way to five consecutive pars – a streak that ended with a birdie at the last to cap off a second-round 64. The 8-under effort paired with a first-round 68 at River Hills on Wednesday to push the Southern California native to his current 11-under standing.

Weaver, the 2007 British Amateur champion, is one week removed from picking up his second career win on the eGolf Tour at the Willow Creek Open – an event contested on his home course, Willow Creek Country Club in High Point, NC.

After beginning his week with a 4-under 67 at River Hills, Weaver played solidly on Thursday at Palisades with three birdies in his first six holes en route to a 3-under 33 on the front nine. A birdie at 12 moved the former Virginia Tech star to 4-under for the day, but it was a torrid finish featuring birdies on 15, 17 and 18 that solidified his second-round 65.

Through 36 holes of play thus far on the week, Weaver has yet to card a single bogey at the River Hills Classic – doing his damage courtesy of 11 birdies and 25 pars.

The great start this week was merely a continuation of good play in the month of May for the 25-year-old Weaver, dating back to last week’s win and a T2 finish at the Columbia Open three weeks ago. During that stretch, Weaver has posted rounds of 65-65-71-68-65-68-67-67-65 for an EA Sports-inspired 45-under par tally. For those keeping count at home on a calculator or abacus, that’s an average of 5-under per round.

The recent resurgence is good news for Weaver, who opened his 2012 campaign with back-to-back missed cuts before posting his first top-10 at the Pine Needles Classic. The 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team member notched his first pro win at the tour’s Caddy For A Cure Classic in September of 2010, prior to going winless in 2011. His win at the Willow Creek Open pushed his 2012 earnings up to $37,301, good for fifth on the tour’s money list.

Chris Kamin of Scottsdale, AZ and Matt Hill of Ontario, Canada are tied for fourth at 10-under 133 through 36 holes.

Kamin, who won the eGolf Tour’s Grand Harbor Open in August of 2011, birdied five of his first nine holes on Thursday at River Hills to post a 31 on his outward nine. A bogey at the lengthy par-4 10th dropped the former Bradley University golfer back down to 4-under, but an eagle at the downhill par-5 12th moved him to 5-under for the day. From there, Kamin added birdies at 15 and 18 to offset a bogey at 16 for his second-round 64. The round marked a career low for Kamin on the eGolf Tour, bettering the 6-under 65 he used in the opening round of the Grand Harbor Open en route to his win.

The 37-year-old Kamin is making just his fifth start of the year on the eGolf Tour. Thus far, he has made three of five cuts with a T22 at the River Run Classic in March serving as his best finish.

Hill, the 2009 NCAA Champion and winner of nine college titles during his 2008-2009 sophomore campaign at N.C. State, birdied five of his first seven holes at Palisades on his way to a second-round 65 that put him tied with Kamin at 10-under for the week.

After opening the year with a T27 at the Palmetto Hall Championship and a missed cut at the Oldfield Open, Hill has played some of his best golf as a professional over the past two months with three top-10 finishes in his last five starts – including a solo-fourth-place effort at last week’s Willow Creek Open. Hill opened that event with a career-best 63 prior to finishing three shots shy of Weaver with a 13-under total.

The shot of the day came from Drew Scott of Henderson, NV, who used a 6-iron from 183 yards to ace the par-3 13th at Palisades. The hole-in-one was the first of Scott’s career, and gave way to a round 69, which left him at 2-under 141 through 36 holes.

The 36-hole cut fell at 2-under 141 with 76 players making it through to the final 36 holes of play. The third round of the River Hills Classic will begin at 8:00 AM on Friday morning, with players competing in threesomes off No. 1 and 10 tees at River Hills. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.