Southport, NC – T.J. Howe of Osceola, PA began his second round of the eGolf Tour’s Championship at St. James Plantation in rather uninspiring fashion, with two bogeys in his first six holes to quickly fall to 2-over on his round. To his credit, the former Penn State standout recovered with five birdies over his last 12 holes to card a second-round 69 and take sole possession of the event’s 36-hole lead at 9-under par, with two rounds still to play.

The Championship at St. James Plantation is the sixth of 24 scheduled events on the 2012 eGolf Tour schedule, and is being contested this week at both the Reserve Club and Founders Club courses at St. James Plantation in Southport, NC.

Howe opened his week in scenic Southport, NC with a 6-under 66 on the co-host Founders Club course at St. James. The day one effort, however, left him three shots off the pace after Peter Malnati of Dandridge, TN carded a course-record 63 to snag the overnight lead by three shots. Heading to the more difficult Reserve Club course on Thursday, Howe was able to make up significant ground by posting a score three shots higher than the day before – but it wouldn’t come easy.

Starting on the back nine of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Reserve course, Howe bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15 to fall to 2-over on his round and 4-under for the event. Not an ideal start, but one he was able to overcome.

“I just got off to a real slow start. I was hitting it okay, I just wasn’t hitting any good iron shots,” said Howe, 24. “On 16, I made about a 50-foot birdie putt that helped to settle me down. After that, I birdied 18 and was able to get comfortable again.”

Howe’s birdie-par-birdie stretch to closing out his opening nine allowed him to turn at even-par 36. On the front nine (his back), Howe birdied the tough par-4 fourth, and added two more at Nos. 7 and 8 to come home in 3-under 33 for a second-round 69.

“I’m putting really well and keeping the ball in play, which is good out here,” said Howe. “I feel really good about playing Reserve again over the next two days, because the shots suit my eye very well.”

Howe is in his first full season on the eGolf Tour after making just one start in 2011 at the season-ending Salisbury Classic. Thus far, he has just one top-10 finish to his name through four starts, posting rounds of 70-70-69-72—281 to finish T6 at the season-opening Palmetto Hall Championship. Since that promising start, Howe has sandwiched a T46 finish at the Irish Creek Classic in between missed cuts at the Pine Needles Classic and River Run Classic.

“I played well at Palmetto Hall, but that’s mainly because I was putting well,” he said. “Since then, I’ve either putted well and hit it bad, or putted bad and hit it well. This week, I’m finally doing both pretty well, which is why I’ve been able to score.”

Howe compiled a standout amateur resume in his native Pennsylvania, starting at the high school level and going up through a stellar career at Penn State, where he earned “All America” honors in 2010.

Sitting on a lead, however, is something that hasn’t happened in a while for Howe.

“Wow, I can’t even remember the last time I sat on a lead,” he said. “Most of the time when I’ve won, I’ve come from behind. Either way, it should be fun over the next two days, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Trailing Howe by one shot at 8-under 136 is Chesson Hadley of Raleigh, NC and David Robinson of Sandersville, GA.

Hadley, who matched Howe’s opening 66 with one of his own on Wednesday, albeit at the Reserve Club, posted three birdies and one bogey at the Founders Club on Thursday en route to a second-round 70.

Starting on the back nine of the P.B. Dye-designed course, Hadley opened his day two round with a par-birdie-bogey stretch before hitting a nine-hole lull of pars to remain at even par through 12 holes on the day.

A birdie at the par-5 fourth (his 13th) led to four more pars before Hadley closed with a birdie at the par-4 ninth to finish off his 2-under effort.

A three-time “All American” at Georgia Tech, Hadley is off to his best start yet in 2012, with 15 of 19 rounds posted under par, and two top-5s to his name through five starts – a T5 at February’s Oldfield Open, and a T3 at the Pine Needles Classic in March.

Hadley now has five career top-5s on the eGolf Tour dating back to a T2 at the 2010 Bushnell Classic – where he went toe-to-toe with current PGA TOUR members Jason Kokrak and Tommy Biershenk, before falling one-shot shy of Kokrak on the 72nd hole.

Robinson, a member of the Nationwide Tour over the past three seasons, posted matching scores to that of Hadley, 66-70, but did so via the Founders Club course on day one and the Reserve Club course on day two.

On Thursday, Robinson overcame two bogeys in his first five holes to post four birdies on the day for his 2-under 70. Birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 moved the former Georgia College & State golfer to 1-under, but an eight-hole stretch of pars allowed him to make up little ground before a birdie at the par-5 17th finally took him to 2-under, where he finished.

In 2008, Robinson won three times on the eGolf Tour, added five additional top-5s, and won the tour’s money list title with single-season earnings of $106,645. By doing so, he became the first player in tour history to eclipse the $100,000 mark in earnings.

The last of those three wins came at the Charlotte National Open in September of that year, and Robinson has gone 47 starts since without a win. Thus far in 2012, however, he has posted two top-10s in five starts, and is two weeks removed from his best finish of the year – a T8 at the River Run Classic.

In solo-fourth-place is Lanto Griffin of Blacksburg, VA, who posted 10 birdies at the Founders Club for a second-round 64 to move up 77 spots on the leaderboard. The 64 paired with an opening-round 74 to put Griffin at 6-under 138, three shots behind Howe.

Griffin’s 64 was one shot shy of Malnati’s course record. Malnati posted a second-round 76 at the Reserve Club to fall into a tie for fifth at 5-under 139.

Thursday’s round featured two aces, as Brandon Crick of McCook, NE and Brett Cairns of Ontario, Canada each recorded a hole-in-one on the 185-yard par-3 13th at the Reserve Club. Crick’s ace led to a second-round 70, while Cairns’ gave way to a Thursday 78. Crick’s hole-in-one aided him in reaching a 3-over 147 total, which in turn allowed him to make his first cut of the year.

The 36-hole cut fell at 3-over 147, with 55 players making it through to the final 36 holes of play. Third-round play in The Championship at St. James Plantation will begin at 8:00 AM on Friday morning at the Reserve Club, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 tees. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.