HERTFORD COUNTY, N.C. — 55-miles down Route 17, a couple of stop lights, and quite a few windy roads later, you'll find a hidden gem. Situated along North Carolina's Inner Banks, the Sound Golf Links at Albemarle Plantation is home to the EMPact Championship, one of the major events on the G Pro tour.
And where there lies a hidden gem, there also lies hidden talent.
"These guys are professionals. It is extremely competitive," said Lee Duncan, Senior General Manager of Albemarle Plantation. "A lot of these guys are pretty fresh out of college. The competition is extremely tough and you never know which one of the guys are going to catch lightning in a bottle and go play."
The EMPact Championship draws professional golfers from all over the world to compete and try to make a name for themselves. Poquoson native Josh Brown moved back home from Jupiter, Florida in order to compete in tournaments like this against the top talent in the world.
"Right now in this era, everybody is good and technology is good so its just a matter of if you have a good week or not to be honest," said Brown.
It’s just one stop along the way for the 111 golfers in attendance who all have the same destination in mind.
"The PGA tour is the end game. That's where they want to be," said Duncan.
The G Pro tour is the premiere developmental tour for Korn Ferry and PGA tour hopefuls. Events on the G Pro tour like the EMPact Championship are designed to mirror what players will see down the road.
"For us its a great week because its a great community event and the players really like coming here because of that. They're treated like family here but at other places they're just going to play golf and folks are waiting to play after them," said Duncan. "It's actually one of the things that helps them in their growth is all the different things that they experience throughout the year on a tour like the G Pro tour because your going to experience that at the next level."