Little wonder why Scott Wise loves coming home from college for the summer.

In a round of golf that rekindled memories of his junior heyday in Roanoke, Wise made seven birdies en route to a 4-under-par 67 at Countryside and vaulted into the lead of the 30th Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame men's championship.

In his pursuit of becoming the fourth player ever to win back-to-back HOF men's titles, Wise, a rising redshirt junior on Virginia Tech's golf team, takes a one-shot lead on former Virginia player Scott Griffin into today's final round at Hidden Valley.

"Two straight would be a big deal to me," said Wise, who has a two-round total of 2-under 139. "I don't want too sound cocky, but I'm confident about my chances."

A round including seven birdies tends to help any possible shortcomings in that department. Wise's 67, which matched the HOF course record set by Robbie Craft in 2000, was one of only three sub-par scores posted in a rain-plagued, soggy second round. Wise, who started the day three shots back of first-round leader Miller Baber, quickly charged to the lead with a sizzling 4-under 32 on the front side, then overcame a double bogey-7 at the 12th with birdies at Nos.15 and 17.

"That front side was one of the best nine holes I've ever played considering the conditions," said Wise, who hit all nine greens in regulation and missed very makable birdie putts at Nos.1 and 6.

"This was just old times again, yeah, from the white tees. It's fun making a lot of birdies. It has been a while since I've made seven in a round."

It hasn't happened in his three years at Tech. Wise played mostly as the Hokies' No.5 man this past season and finished with a stroke-average in the 75-76 range that didn't exactly meet his expectations.

"You always question yourself when you start shooting 80," Wise said. "You wonder how in the world you ever shot under par when you're struggling to make pars and shooting 78 and 79 all the time. At least this tells me that I can still play."

The other Scott on the leaderboard can still play, too. Like Wise, Griffin was a big winner on the valley's junior scene before he went to UVa. His career in Charlottesville wasn't nearly as triumphant.

"I would say I had less than a marginal collegiate career," said Griffin, who played two years for the Cavaliers.

Griffin, 26, who builds houses for a living, had a pair of eagles (Nos.2 and 17) en route to a 68 that left him at 140. The former Lord Botetourt High School standout seemed to be getting a rush out of making a splash in this event.

"Between the juniors and the men's events, I've played in this thing I don't know how many years," Griffin said. "I'm 0-for-whatever. I guess I'm due one. I think I've finished in the top 10 in this before. I know I can play well, it's just a matter of going out and doing it."

First-round leader Miller Baber settled for a 73 and stands three back at 142. Favorite Matt Mankin (71) and venerable Jeff Lynch (73) are six shots back.

In the team competition, defending champion Roanoke Country Club squandered all but three of its 10-shot lead on second-place Hidden Valley. Blue Hills is nine shots back in third and Botetourt Country Club is fourth, 10 shots off the pace.

Reprinted with permission from The Roanoke Times.