Charlotte, NC – After a one-week hiatus from tournament play, the eGolf Tour will return to action next week for the fourth annual Forest Oaks Classic, to be contested at venerable Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, NC – a 30-year host of the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship.

From 1977 through 2007, Forest Oaks hosted the PGA TOUR’s best players for the Wyndham Championship (formerly known as the Greater Greensboro Classic) – the third-oldest event on TOUR. The tournament produced winners such as Seve Ballesteros, Raymond Floyd, Lanny Wadkins and Davis Love III, to name a few.

In 2005, Love’s design group (Love Golf Design) updated the original 1962 Ellis Maples layout to give it a throwback feel, introducing traditional design elements such as false fronts to putting surfaces and native grasses The par-4 10th at Forest Oaks C.C.encompassing a number of holes. All the tees were rebuilt, new bunkers were added, and a new bunker strategy was created – in turn bringing some teeth back into the original routing.

Later that fall, the course re-opened to rave reviews from PGA TOUR players, who were greeted with a much more demanding course and some of the firmest and fastest putting surfaces on golf’s grandest stage. Testament to the success of the redesign can be found in the winners it produced over the Wyndham Championship’s final three years at Forest Oaks, with K.J. Choi (2005), Love (2006) and Brandt Snedeker (2007) claiming the titles.

Fast forward to 2013, and the Charlotte, NC-based eGolf Tour will once again bring a bevy of talent to the Greensboro area for the Forest Oaks Classic. Featured players in the field include:

Drew Weaver (High Point, NC)
2007 British Amateur champion led the 2012 eGolf Tour money list with earnings of $121,737, thanks in part to two wins and nine additional top-5 finishes. Former Virginia Tech standout finished T2 at the Columbia Open in May of 2012, then notched two wins (Willow Creek Open / Southern Open) and three more runner-ups during a six-tournament stretch that vaulted him past the $100,000 mark in single-season earnings - the fastest player in tour history to reach that milestone. Weaver has made four of six cuts thus far in 2013, posting a season-best T5 at the Irish Creek Classic last month.

Jin Jeong (Melbourne, Australia)
Korean-born amateur star became the first Asian player to win the British Amateur when he did so in 2010. That same summer, Jeong notched low amateur honors at the British Open following rounds of 68-70-74-72--282 and a T14 finish. Missed the cut at the 2011 Masters Tournament prior to turning professional, then made three more starts on the PGA TOUR at the Valero Texas Open, The Memorial Tournament and the Greenbrier Classic. Jeong finished runner-up to Drew Weaver in his maiden eGolf Tour start at the Willow Creek Open in May of 2012. Forest Oaks will mark his third eGolf Tour start of the 2013 season.

Harold Varner III (Gastonia, NC)
Former East Carolina University star won the 2011 North Carolina Amateur at nearby Greensboro Country Club (Farm Course), becoming the first African-American in the tournament's 52-year history to win the title. Also won the 2011 North Carolina Amateur Match Play title, becoming the first player in history to claim both amateur titles in the same summer. Varner is currently 10th on the eGolf Tour money list, and is just one week removed from a career-best, runner-up finish at the Founders Club Classic.

Jack Fields (Southern Pines, NC)
Fields, who earned his first professional title at the tour's Columbia Open last May, is currently second on the eGolf Tour money list with $24,397 in earnings. The former University of North Carolina standout has two runner-up finishes in six starts this year, finishing second at both the Oldfield Open in February and the Irish Creek Classic in March. The current Charlotte, NC resident has made all six of his cuts, posting four top-15 finishes in all. Prior to turning professional in the fall of 2011, Fields was one of the more highly touted amateurs in the Carolinas, posting wins at the 2011 North & South Amateur, the 2011 Carolinas Open, the 2009 Carolinas Amateur and the 2008 North Carolina Amateur. As the No. 1 player on the Tar Heel men's golf team, Fields posted a UNC-record-setting 9-under 63 in the second round of the 2009 Bridgestone Golf Collegiate, contested at Forest Oaks (he finished 2nd).

Other players of note include former U.S. Public Links Championship winner Brad Benjamin, recent Founders Club Classic winner Cam Burke, former UNC-Greensboro standouts Andy Bare and Nathan Stamey, and Jonathan Fricke – who won the second of two events contested at Forest Oaks in 2012 (the Forest Oaks Open).

“We are excited to be returning to Forest Oaks again this year,” said eGolf Tour president David Siegel. “We are known for playing the best golf courses in the developmental tour industry, and the PGA TOUR track record at Forest Oaks solidifies that claim.”

Scott Brown

The difficulty at Forest Oaks lies in the par-4s, with six of the 10 measuring at 430 yards or longer. Notable holes include the 458-yard par-4 fifth, which features one of the layout’s more undulating putting surfaces, as well as the 448-yard par-4 ninth – the finishing hole for 28 of the 30 years of Wyndham Championship play. On No. 9, players are forced to carry a left-side fairway bunker on the dogleg-left, or lay back with a 3-wood, in turn leaving a lengthy approach to a green which features swales reminiscent of a handful of greens at St. Andrews.

Three of the four par-5s at Forest Oaks measure over 550 yards, while three of the par-3s can be stretched out in excess of 215 yards – including the par-3 17th, which at times can measure up to 235 yards.

“What makes Love’s design so unique is that every hole location requires thought, as a number of the greens fall off into collection areas or feature the classic drainage design, whereby false fronts and occasionally false sides allow for water – and in this case golf balls – to gradually exit the putting surface,” said Siegel. “It’s a wonderful test of golf.”

While the golf course steals the show, much like the Wyndham Championship, it’s the winners who solidify the venue’s stature as one of the tour’s best. Past winners of the eGolf Tour’s Forest Oaks Classic include recent PGA TOUR winner Scott Brown (2009), former PGA TOUR member and Masters participant member Ben Martin (2010), and three-time eGolf Tour winner Clint Jensen (2012).

The first round of the 2013 Forest Oaks Classic will begin at 8:00 AM on Wednesday (4/17) morning. Following the completion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 35 percent and ties for Friday’s final round. As always, the tournament is open to the public and free of charge.

Spots are still available for the event. Players who wish to sign up may do so by going to www.egolfprofessionaltour.com and clicking on the “Entry” icon at the top of the page.