Conover, NC – At the 2011 HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn, Germany’s Stefan Wiedergruen opened the week with a first-round 62 to grab a share of the day one lead en route to a T15 finish on the week. On Wednesday afternoon at the event’s 2012 edition, the former UNC Charlotte star picked up where he left off, carding eight birdies to post a 7-under 65 in order to yet again grab first-round honors through 18 holes of the 72-hole event.

The HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn is the 11th of 24 events on the 2012 eGolf Professional Tour schedule, and is being contested this week on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Course at Rock Barn Club & Spa in Conover, NC.

Starting on the back nine of the award-winning Jones Course – host of the Champions Tour’s Greater Hickory Classic – Wiedergruen got his week off to a dream start with birdies on five of his first eight holes to quickly reach 5-under for the tournament.

“I was hitting some real good iron shots on my front nine, and from there was able to convert some easy birdies,” said Wiedergruen, 27. “I was pleased with the way I hit the ball.”

Birdies on Nos. 1 and 4 (his 10th and 13th holes) pushed him further into the red at 7-under par, but a bogey at the difficult par-4 sixth took him back to 6-under. After blocking his tee shot into a rocky hill to the right of six fairway, Wiedergruen felt fortunate to walk away with bogey.

“I hit my tee shot over by a rock, and then clipped the rock on my second shot,” he said. “The ball came to rest on top of the rock after that, and from there I could only get it 20 yards down the fairway. I hit my fourth shot from 150 yards onto the green and converted the putt for a real good bogey.”

The adventurous bogey on No. 6 gave way to a follow-up birdie at the uphill par-5 seventh to move back to 7-under. When Wiedergruen closed with pars on Nos. 8 and 9, he was left with a first-round 65 and the day one lead for yet another year at Rock Barn.

“I’m glad to be off to a good start again, but it didn’t work out for me last year,” Wiedergruen said of his T15 finish. “Hopefully this year will turn out a little better.”

Wiedergruen is in his second full season on the eGolf Tour after finishing a standout career at UNC Charlotte in 2009. In the 2007-2008 season, Wiedergruen earned Golf World’s “Mid-Season Player of the Year” honor while leading the 49ers to the No. 1 ranking in the country. Following the 2009 season, he played amateur golf in the United States before turning professional and going back to Europe to secure funding for his professional career.

In 2011, the Waiblingen, Germany native made five of nine cuts on the eGolf Tour, with the T15 at Rock Barn serving as his best finish. Entering 2012, Wiedergruen was simply hopeful for the opportunity to compete. From December of 2011 through April of 2012, he stayed at home in Germany waiting on sponsorship dollars to come through – much as he did in the early part of 2011.

“I was just hanging out, waiting day by day,” Wiedergruen said. “I wasn’t 100 percent sure if I could continue playing since I didn’t have the money to do so. It took a lot longer than any of us expected.”

With the help of his coach and a bit of patience, Wiedergruen was able to put funds together to compete again. Upon returning to the eGolf Tour two weeks ago, he finished T31 at the tour’s Willow Creek Open, and T23 at last week’s River Hills Classic.

“I have no idea what I was going to do if I couldn’t play golf,” he said. “Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about that right now. I’m just looking forward to the rest of this week – we’ll see what it brings.”

Kevin Tway of Edmond, OK and Tim Hegarty of Briarcliff Manor, NY are tied for second, one shot behind Wiedergruen after posting matching rounds of 66 on Wednesday.

Tway entered the first round with just one eGolf Tour start under his belt on the year. A missed cut at the tour’s Forest Oaks Classic last month did little to dissuade the promise of Tway’s second event, and he more than delivered in Wednesday’s opening round.

A birdie at the arduous par-4 first put Tway on a good track early in the first round, but when seven follow-up pars gave way to a closing bogey at the par-3 ninth, he was left with an even-par 36 on his outward nine.

Birdies on 10 and 11 moved Tway to 2-under for the round, while a trifecta of birdies on Nos. 14 through 16 took him to 5-under par on the day.

At the dogleg-left par-5 18th, Tway finished off his round with yet another birdie to close in 6-under 30 for a first-round 66.

“I hit it a lot closer on the back nine, which set up some nice birdie opportunities,” said Tway. “I got a lot out of my round. It was out there if you hit the ball in play.”

Winner of the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur and son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway, Kevin Tway finished up a stellar career at NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma State in 2011, prior to turning professional that June. A four-time “All America” selection as one of the Cowboys’ top players, Tway was a member of one of the school’s more heralded lineups, including Rickie Fowler, Peter Uihlein and current eGolf Tour member Morgan Hoffmann.

As a 19-year-old amateur, Tway made it through sectional qualifying into the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Rounds of 75-78—153 left him with a missed cut on the week, but helped to set up what would be a number of PGA TOUR exemptions after turning professional in the summer of 2011.

At the PGA TOUR’s 2011 Travelers Championship, Tway made his professional debut with his father serving as caddie. Starts at the John Deere Classic and RBC Canadian Open ensued, but it wasn’t until a T62 at the Nationwide Tour’s Midwest Classic that Tway made a cut in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event. For the can’t-miss OSU prospect, the slow start was a bit of a surprise.

“My expectations were probably a little high coming out of school,” he said. “I figured with the starts I was getting that I could play well on the PGA TOUR. But, like anything else, there is always a learning curve.”

Tway, however, saw the same progression take place in junior golf and college golf, just as it has in the pro ranks.

“You really have to think about the process and not get wrapped up in it all,” he said. “I got better the more I played as a junior golfer, and when I got to Oklahoma State, I had to keep working at it to get better.”

In 2012, Tway has spent a vast majority of his time attempting to Monday qualify for Nationwide Tour events. The one-day shootouts, which he refers to as a “crapshoot,” turned successful when he qualified for the tour’s Stadion Classic at UGA in April. That start marked his third PGA TOUR-sanctioned event of the year, after competing in both the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Mayakoba Golf Classic in February.

Fortunately for Tway, he has a sounding board in his father to play ideas and experiences off of as he continues to progress in the professional game.

“I go to him for about everything,” said Tway of his dad. “He’s played the game at the highest level for 30 years, so he’s a great tool to have.”

For Hegarty, Wednesday’s opening round began in less-than-stellar fashion with a bogey at the par-4 10th. Pars on Nos. 11 through 13 brought Hegarty to the par-5 14th, where he made his first birdie of the day to move back to even par. The birdie at 14 led to birdies at 16 and 18 to give him a 2-under 34 on his outward nine.

On the front nine (his back), Hegarty quickly birdied Nos. 1, 3 and 4 to reach 5-under on his round. A late birdie at the short par-4 eighth pushed him to 6-under for the round, where he finished following a par at the par-3 ninth.

Hegarty is making just his second start of the year on the eGolf Tour after finishing T14 at the tour’s Forest Oaks Classic. At that event, he held sole possession of the 18-hole lead following a career-best 65. Closing rounds of 72-71 gave Hegarty an 8-under 208 total on the week. The 14th-place finish marked a career-best on the eGolf Tour.

Seven players are tied for fourth at 5-under par through 18 holes, including 2012 eGolf Tour winners Jack Fields and Drew Weaver, as well as local favorite Matt Short of nearby Hudson, NC.

Fields, who is just three weeks removed from claiming his first eGolf Tour title at the Columbia Open, played flawlessly on Wednesday, notching five birdies against 13 pars for a bogey-free 67. Birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 capped off what would be Fields’ second-lowest round of the year.

A former University of North Carolina standout, Fields turned professional shortly after winning the prestigious North & South Amateur in the summer of 2011. Four missed cuts in his first seven starts in 2012 did little to disrupt Fields, who broke through with rounds of 67-62-72-67—268 en route to winning the Columbia Open title. Fields missed the cut in both starts since the win – at the Willow Creek Open and River Hills Classic – but appears to be back on track following his 5-under effort at Rock Barn.

The second round of the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Following the completion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 52 players and ties for the final two rounds. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.