Ten Players to Watch in the SwingThought Tour New Bern Pro Classic at The Emerald
(New Bern, N.C.) – When the SwingThought Tour descends upon the Emerald Golf Club in New Bern, N.C. this week you will see some of the best golfers in the world, even if some aren’t well known, yet. Players such as Keegan Bradley, Zach Johnson, and Bubba Watson weren’t household names either as they competed on the SwingThought Tour (formerly the NGA/Hooters Tour), developing their games to one day become Major Champions. Rest assured you will see many of the players challenging the Emerald this week on the PGA TOUR one day, some sooner than later. While we can’t profile each and every one, as perhaps they all deserve, we had to narrow our list to 10 Players to Watch in this year’s New Bern Pro Classic.
This year’s field is full of past SwingThought Tour winners, current Web.com Tour members, past All-Nicklaus, Walker Cup, & Palmer Cup Team Members, US Am & Publinks Champions, and countless All-Americans. The following is a preview of ten players our experts have picked to keep an eye on at this year’s event.
1. Chas Narramore (Middle Tennessee State; Kingston, Tenn.) – Narramore is a dual member of the Web.com Tour and the SwingThought Tour, however, he has been playing like he is on the PGA TOUR. The former Blue Raider made history by becoming the only player to win the Savannah Lakes Village Classic twice, the event considered by most to be the Masters of the SwingThought Tour, after lapping the field early this year. PGA TOUR stars such as Camilo Villegas, Blayne Barber, Kris Blanks, and Kevin Kisner have all tasted victory in McCormick but none twice. Narramore currently sits 3rd on the SwingThought Tour money list but he’ll be eyeing first with a win this week.
2. Bobby Wyatt (Alabama; St. Simons Island, Ga.) – This stellar rookie out of Alabama has been knocking on the door of his first SwingThought Tour win. After winning back to back National Championships at Alabama, Wyatt has made 7 PGA TOUR starts, making the cut in three, and adding a Web.com Tour start as well this year. After back to back T2 finishes on the SwingThought Tour to perhaps the two hottest golfers in developmental golf, Nick Rousey and Adam Svensson, he is ready to grab his first professional win and add his name to the elite of our sport.
3. Tanner Briele (Western Carolina; New Bern, N.C.) – Players don’t usually fare well at their home course when the SwingThought Tour comes to town. Be it the added attention or added pressure of competing in front of the home town crowd, but only one SwingThought Tour legend has ever pulled off the feat, that being 2-time Player of the Year Ted Potter Jr. in Ocala in 2011. Briele is coming off a T6 at Cutter Creek, which is close enough to home to provide a preview of how he might play under the circumstances, and no one will know the Emerald quite as well as he.
4. Jeff Karlsson (Kennesaw State; Gothenburg, Sweden) – The big Swede has been playing SwingThought Tour events since 2013 but found success with his first win at last year’s SwingThought Tour Disney Palm Winter Series event. He’s turned that success into success on the Pro Series this season finishing runner up in Fayetteville at Gates Four and tied for 6th at last week’s Cutter Creek Golf Classic in Snow Hill in back to back events. He’s as hot as anyone right now and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the former Owl, with the signature strong out front grip, to be accepting the Big Check on Saturday.
5. James White Jr (Georgia Tech; Acworth, Ga.) – another dual member, White is competing on the SwingThought Tour while waiting for his starts to come on the Web.com Tour, the official developmental tour of the PGA Tour. The former Byron Nelson Award winner, given out to the top senior in college golf, and Palmer Cup and All-Nicklaus team member has made the most of his SwingThought Tour starts, most recently finishing tied for 6th at last week’s Cutter Creek, which moved him to 8th on the SwingThought Tour season-long money list. White has proven he can compete against the best in the game, with a SwingThought Tour win and a Web.com runner-up to his credit, so one would be wise to watch out for him this week at the Emerald.
6. Ken Looper (LSU; Mandeville, La.) –The 2012 SwingThought Tour co-Rookie of the Year picked up right where he left off after returning from PGA Tour Latinoamerica, winning the Cutter Creek Long Drive Contest and finishing 4th in last week’s Cutter Creek Classic. Now that he is back into the flow, the former New Orleans and LSU star will look to get back inside the winner’s circle, a spot the 5-time SwingThought Tour Winner knows very well. We would not be surprised at all to see Looper holding up the big check, once again, at week’s end.
7. Anders Albertson (Georgia Tech; Alpharetta, Ga.) – It’s hard for a rookie to make our 10 to watch list but even harder for one who hasn’t even made his first professional start yet. This rookie, however, is coming off a stellar collegiate career which saw him follow in the footsteps of fellow Georgia Tech alum and current SwingThought Tour member James White by winning the Byron Nelson Award, annually given out to the top senior in college golf. As if that wasn’t enough, the two-time All-American literally just finished his collegiate career by being a part of the winning United States Palmer Cup team just this past week. He’ll be making his professional debut this week and definitely has momentum on his side.
8. Seth Fair (Indianapolis; Brownsburg, Ind.) – once known as the best player on the SwingThought Tour Tour without a tour win, the former Greyhound learned quickly how much fun it could be after conquering both the Indiana State Open and the Loudmouth Golf Classic. The former University of Indianapolis All-American just finished tied for 2nd at Cutter Creek this past week and has moved to 6th on the SwingThought Tour money list. A win this week could propel him to the top where many feel he belongs.
9. Justin Lower (Malone; Canal Fulton, Ohio) – The former All-Nicklaus Team Member and David Toms and Jack Nicklaus Awards Winner had a magical season on the SwingThought Tour in 2013 as he and current PGA TOUR member Jon Curran battled it out all season for Player of the Year Honors. Curran took home Player of the Year while Lower took home the bigger prize, an exemption into the PGA TOUR Reno-Tahoe Open. Lower moved to the Web.com Tour in 2014 but has lost his status and has been competing on the SwingThought Tour this season. However, after finishing 4th and 3rd in his last two starts, it looks as though Lower is once again ready to be elite.
10. Gipper Finau (Lehi, Utah) – Being the younger brother of a PGA Tour star buys you little in the way of credibility on the professional golf developmental tours. Gipper, however, found instant success after turning professional at the age of only 16 years old, foregoing his senior year of high school, and making the cut in his first Web.com Tour event, the youngest to ever do so at the time. He now makes his SwingThought Tour debut, trying to follow the same path as his brother Tony did to the PGA Tour. One of the longest hitters in developmental golf, Gipper is sure to be a fan favorite and wow the crowds at the Emerald this week.
Come watch these 10 great stars and some of the best golfers in the world June 17th through 20th at the 2015 New Bern Pro Classic to be held on the championship Emerald Golf Club in New Bern, N.C. and, as always, admission is free to the public. For more details contact the Emerald Golf Club at 252-633-4440.
For full New Bern Pro Classic field list visit here.
For more information on the new SwingThought Tour visit swingthought.com or call 800-992-8748. Follow on Twitter @SwingThought and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ngatour.
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