TIM JACKSON TAKES LEAD AT HALFWAY MARK

CARMEL, Calif. (Oct. 17, 2008) -- Despite playing in his first Stocker Cup Invitational, and having never played a round at The Preserve Golf Club and its lightening-fast greens before this week, Tennessee’s Tim Jackson had to be viewed as a favorite.

He’s done nothing to disprove that notion through two rounds of play, carding two straight rounds in the red to take a two-stroke lead at 4-under-par 140.

Still, after turning in a 2-under 70 on Friday, he still thinks he has plenty of good golf left to play.

“I wasn’t really hitting the ball that great, to be honest, the key is knowing where to miss,” said Jackson. “I got a bit better at the end, made a few timely putts.”

Jackson, who is no stranger to top-level amateur golf, having won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 1994 and 2001 as well as the past three Birmingham National Invitationals, finished with birdies on three of the final four holes.

He is trailed by Steve White of Jackson, Wyoming, who got his round off to a spectacular start when he aced the 189-yard second hole, using a 7-iron.

“The hole was in a similar location to where I hit my ball yesterday, so I used the same club,” said White, who is in the synthetic grass business. “The ball hit just left of the hole, then jumped behind it and rolled back in. The ball mark was about a foot left of the hole.”

White finished the round at 3-under, putting him two-strokes behind the leader at 2-under 142.

“I kept the ball in play most of the day and made some putts,” said White, who played his collegiate golf at Clemson. “I had a couple of ugly bogeys on 10, 11 and 14, but I finished with birdies on 16 and 17.”

First-round leader Billy Mitchell of Georgia finished with a 74 on Day 2 and is in a three-way tie for third with 2007 Trans-Miss Four Ball champ Joe Sanders and Kentucky’s Brad Wilder.

Ryan Mitchell, Sanders’ partner at the Trans-Miss Four Ball, had the best round of the tournament, turning in a 6-under 66. The Nevada resident sits in sixth place at 1-over 145 after shaving a whopping 13 strokes off of his first round 79.

The chase for the Elliott Cup, a 54-hole best-ball team competition that pits one of the scratch A-Players with a B-Player competing at their assigned handicap from the gold tees, is a complete logjam.

First round leaders Garrett Larson and Martin Connolly came back to earth a bit after their 10-under opening round, carding a 4-under second round to join a four-team tie for the top spot.

A-flight leader Jackson and partner Jack Myers are with them atop the leaderboard after going 10-under on Day 2. First-round leader Billy Mitchell and Scott McWhorter and the team of John Pate and Gregg Ames are also in pole position at 14-under par.

The team competition, which finishes Friday, is still up for grabs, however, as 17 teams are within five strokes of the lead.

ABOUT THE STOCKER CUP:
The Stocker Cup, played in memory of Peter Stocker, is held each October at The Preserve Golf Club in Carmel. The field is comprised of 52 world-class mid-amateur invitees, who meet stringent eligibility requirements, and pay a minimal fee for their participation. Offering both NCGA and national Golfweek and amateurgolf.com - Bridgestone Player Rankings points, the Stocker Cup also holds a one-day qualifying tournament for regional players who were not among the original invites. On October 2, eighteen competitors with a handicap index of 2.4 or lower vied for the final two A-list spots in the main tournament. Hank McCusker and Stephen Molinelli joined the field after carding 68 and 71, respectively, at Harding Park in San Francisco.

Those final A-list golfers are complimented by a matching number of qualified B-list competitors, with invitations extended to friends, relatives and associates of the late Peter Stocker, as well as to various sponsors and other supporters of the event. Every A-player is teamed with a B-player in a handicapped best-ball competition held simultaneously with the individual stroke-championship.


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Notes:
1.) www.amateurgolf.com provides information on amateur tournaments around the U.S., runs a 18-event tournament series, and provides web and media services for events such as The Stocker Cup. The subscription fee of $45/year will be waived for members of the golf media upon receipt of an email or phone request.

2.) A-player biographies can be viewed at- http://www.stockercup.com/contestants.htm

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