Southern Pines, NC – After posting three top-3 finishes in a stellar 2011 campaign on the eGolf Tour, Chesson Hadley of Raleigh, NC is picking up steam yet again at this week’s Pine Needles Classic. A second-round, course-record 66 at Seven Lakes Country Club on Thursday has the former Georgia Tech star atop the tournament’s 36-hole leaderboard at 12-under 131 with two rounds to play in one of the tour’s marquee events.

The Pine Needles Classic is the third of 24 scheduled events on the 2012 eGolf Tour schedule, and is being contested this week at both Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, NC and Seven Lakes Country Club in West End, NC.

Hadley began his second round in a tie for third place following a first-round 65 at Pine Needles on Wednesday. At tournament co-host Seven Lakes on Thursday, the 24-year-old quickly went to work on what would become a record-setting day.

Pars at Nos. 1 through 3 masked what would become a stellar round for Hadley, who birdied Nos. 4, 6 and 7 to turn at 3-under 33.

Birdies at 10 and 11 moved Hadley further into the red at 5-under for his round, and three straight pars on 12 through 14 brought him to the reachable par-5 15th – one of the easiest holes at Seven Lakes.

“My hole of the day was probably 15, no doubt,” said Hadley. “I blocked a hybrid from about 230 yards into the right woods, and we never found it. From there, I had to walk back to where I originally played from, drop, and hit the same hybrid again. I hit it on the green to 20 feet and wound up making the putt for par – that was huge.”

Hadley’s unorthodox par at 15 gave way to a bogey at the tricky par-3 16th, but the former Tech “All American” backed up his blemish with birdies at 17 and 18 to finish with a course-record 66 on the 36-year-old Peter Tufts III layout.

“I couldn’t believe it was a course record, but I guess it was,” said Hadley after his round. “They asked for a golf ball and the scorecard, so it must have been official.”

Hadley’s 12-under total has him atop a stout leaderboard at the Pine Needles Classic, just two weeks removed from a T5 finish at the tour’s second event of the year – the Oldfield Open.

After failing to advance past the first stage of PGA TOUR Q-School last fall, Hadley questioned whether or not he even wanted to keep playing golf professionally. Thoughts of taking a desk job instead turned to thoughts of how to better his mental game. A decision made to change his attitude and outlook on the golf course has paid dividends, as Hadley has adopted a self-described “screw it” mentality when between the proverbial ropes.

“I was taking the game too seriously, and honestly, it wasn’t fun anymore,” said an open Hadley after his round. “I looked at the way (former eGolf Tour player) Brian Harman handles himself, and he just doesn’t care what people think of him or his game. The idea of not caring on the golf course is a tough one, but it’s one I’m trying to refine.”

Hadley said his playing partners over the first 36 holes – Chris Baker and Joey McLister – must have thought he was nuts as he spent countless walks between shots whistling and singing to himself. While thoughts of an “American Idol” audition were likely put on hold, Hadley’s new outlook has him playing some of his best golf since college, when he was clearly one of the game’s up-and-coming stars.

Adam Long

“I’m just trying to be laid back out there, and it’s working this week,” he said. “I’m making everything I look at. I’m hitting it close on a lot of holes. Everything is just going my way, so if I can keep it up, I should be in great position come Saturday afternoon.”

Trailing Hadley by one shot at 11-under 132 is first-round co-leader Adam Long of Lake St. Louis, MO. Long opened his week with a 64 at Pine Needles that gave him a share of the 18-hole lead alongside Zimbabwe’s Bruce McDonald. Entering Thursday’s second round at tournament Seven Lakes, the 24-year-old looked to pick up where he left off the day before.

Playing in the day’s first threesome, Long birdied Nos. 1 and 2 to quickly move to 9-under for the tournament. His torrid start, however, would cease to continue in the form of 11 consecutive pars.

“It was nice to start off birdie-birdie again, but after that, I just ran into a lengthy string of pars,” said Long. “That stretch after No. 2 is kind of tough with some tricky tee shots, so it wasn’t that bad. I probably played those holes more conservatively than I normally would.”

On the par-4 13th, Long hit his tee shot in the water, but managed to salvage a bogey – a bogey that may have sparked a late rally for the former Duke University golfer.

“When I hit it in the water on 13, that kind of got me going,” he said. “It was just a dumb bogey there, but I bounced back on 14 with a birdie then eagled 15 after hitting a 3-wood to 4 feet.”

A birdie at the 17th moved Long to 12-under, but a poor chip shot at the last led to another bogey that in turn gave him a second-round 68.

After successfully advancing through two stages of PGA TOUR Q-School last fall, Long played well through the first five rounds of final stage in La Quinta, CA, in turn setting himself up for a good chance at solidifying full Nationwide Tour status, or even possibly PGA TOUR status. In the sixth and final round, however, Long stumbled to a 4-over 76, which left him T100 on the week and with conditional Nationwide Tour status for 2012.

On the Nationwide Tour, Long has made two starts thus far – at the Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship and last week’s Chile Classic – with his best finish being a 73rd-place effort in Chile. The Pine Needles Classic marks Long’s second eGolf Tour start of the year following a T35 finish at the Oldfield Open.

Kevin Foley

Tied for third at 10-under 133, two shots behind Hadley, are Kevin Foley of Somersville, NJ, Dustin Bray of Asheboro, NC and Bruce McDonald of Mount Pleasant, SC.

Foley, a three-time “All American” at Penn State and winner of the 2011 New Jersey Open, birdied six of his last 12 holes at Pine Needles on Thursday to post a second-round 65 and move up to 10-under for the week.

The round of the day on Thursday came from Ben Lee of Statesboro, GA. Playing Pine Needles after a first-round 70 at Seven Lakes the day before, Lee blazed the historic venue to the tune of seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 10th for a second-round 64 to move from T30 to T6.

Lee began his day with a birdie at the first and a bogey at the second before posting pars at Nos. 3 through 5 to remain at even par. Starting on the par-4 sixth, Lee played his next nine holes in 7-under par, capping off the stretch with birdies on 12, 13 and 14. A bogey at the par-4 17th was offset by a bogey at the last, and Lee’s 64 vaulted him into tournament contention.

Lee, who didn’t play golf in college, is making his third start of the 2012 eGolf Tour season, having finished T42 at the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship before missing the cut at the Oldfield Open the following week.

The 36-hole cut fell at 2-under 141, with 61 players making it through to the final 36 holes of play, which will be contested solely at Pine Needles. Third-round play in the Pine Needles Classic will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 9 tees. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.