Pirate Alumni navigate tumultuous waters as professional athletes

Pirates should be brimming with pride. The AASU men's golf fraternity is celebrating the professional success of two of their brothers.

Former Pirates Chris Wolfe and Chris Epperson are both consistent performers in the lower levels of men's golf's professional realm, and while it isn't exactly the multi-million dollar of the PGA Tour, these two former Peach Belt competitors are making some money.

In fact, Epperson, a 27-year-old Pirate alumnus and former Savannah Christian Raider has appeared in two eTour events in 2010, and he has made the cut in both. The 5'9", 145-lb Savannah native is currently sitting at the second position on the money list for the eTour with $9,147.82 in winnings in his two events.

The eTour is a developmental tour geared toward preparing men's golfers for the majesty and cutthroat competitiveness of the highest level of professional golf. The eTour has been rearing and shaping its participants for the PGA Tour through a series of tournaments that are centered within a four-hour driving radius of Charlotte, N.C.

The tour awards its top-20 finishers on the eTour money list with an extraordinary opportunity to qualify for the PGA Tour through paying the entry fee for their 2010 PGA Q-School, while a minimum of four players will win exemptions to the PGA Nationwide Tour.

Each of the ultra-competitive 72-hole tournaments conducted by the eTour offers a purse of $235,000. That pile of dough gets split up among the field of golfers that make it past the 36-hole cut, and each finishing position is weighted differently. It's an easy concept to understand: the higher one finishes, the more money he wins.

Epperson has posted a tied for fifth finish and a tied for 25th finish in his two appearances since the eTour's 2010 campaign began, but he is a seasoned veteran by now. Epperson joined the tour in 2008, finishing with an under-par scoring average of 71.54. He made the cut in three of his five events, winning over $5,000 that year.

Success came a little more easily in 2009, producing a $12,698.33 income for the former Pirate. He made the cut in more than half of the tournaments that year, finishing 6-for-11 with a nearly 2-under par 70.45 scoring average.

In his 522 total holes, he sank two eagles that year with 116 birdies rattling around in the cup. Thirteen of his total 29 total rounds shattered par with scores in the 60s. A round in the 60s will turn any golfer, amateur and professional green with envy.

Epperson's most recent campaign through the eTour's Savannah Quarter's Classic on Feb. 24-26 bested his former Savannah Christian High School teammate, Brian Harmon, a University of Georgia graduate and former Bulldog golfer. Epperson posted a 1-over par score to tie for 25th, while Harmon finished with a 2-over tied for 33rd.

Wolfe's path to the glories of professional golf has not yet produced the stellar finishes he became used to in college golf.

The Warner Robbins, Ga., native produced instant success as soon as he entered the NCAA Division II Men's Golf world as an AASU Pirate. As a freshman in 2005-6, Wolfe competed in 11 total tournaments for the Pirates, coming off their second-place finish in the NCAA Championships the year before.

He fired a 74.00 scoring average, winning one event, the GEICO Direct Invitational on March 11-12, 2006. He won with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole, sealing a victory that undoubtedly led to his capturing of All-PBC team honors. His mercurial rise continued through 2006-2009, carding nine top-20 finishes in 2006-7, and earning Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2008.

Wolfe was selected to compete in the 2008 Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship, where he finished 3-0.

The eTour has not been as friendly to Wolfe in 2010. He has competed in the first two events, missing both cuts. His nearly 6-over par scoring average is fluttering at 77.25. That would be a perfectly acceptable scoring average for the casual amateur golfer but not for the professional tours.

Wolfe's 72-holes this year have rendered 11 sparkling birdies, and more are sure to come in this young season.

Epperson and Wolfe are local treasures in the Savannah community; they are heroes that Pirates and Savannahians continue to support and lend their fanhood to. There is no limit to the potential of these two athletes, as more glory is sure to come on the pristine greens and difficult courses that litter the professional world of golf.