CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- If birdies are the best remedy to restore a golfer’s sagging confidence, then the Black Creek Club, site of this week’s Chattanooga Classic, might be mistaken for the Mayo Clinic or the city of Lourdes in France. Leaderboards are awash in red numbers more closely resembling 72-hole totals than a halfway point, fractured psyches are being repaired at a record pace and everyone seems to be getting the spring back in their swings thanks to the course’s healing powers.

Leading the recuperative charge is former Vanderbilt standout Brandt Snedeker, who stands at 17-under par after two rounds of the weather-interrupted event. Snedeker added a 7-under-par 65 Friday to his impressive 10-under 62 Thursday and will take a one-stroke leading into Saturday’s third round.

Boo Weekley (63), Craig Bowden (65) and Garrett Willis (66) share second place at the midpoint, one back of the leader. Kevin Gessino-Kraft (66) is two off the pace with Virginia Beach Open winner Andrew Buckle (65) three back.

Mid-afternoon thunderstorms and lightning threatened the course, located about 10 miles west of downtown, and though they never fully materialized the dangerous conditions forced a nearly two-hour delay in play. The final groups barely beat the darkness, finishing a few minutes after 9 p.m. but still allowing officials to make the 36-hole cut, which came at an eye-popping 7-under par for 71 players.

Friday’s scoring average of 69.323 is the lowest on Tour this year and the lowest in the tournament’s four-year existence. Only eight players in the original field of 156 didn’t post at least one round at par-or-better during the first two days.

“Undoubtedly, the two best rounds of my life,” said Bowden, who was at 18-under and on a Tour-record pace until he was derailed with consecutive three-putts on the final two holes.

“If you’re striking it well, almost every hole is a possible birdie,” said Buckle. “You knew at the start of the week that scores were going to be low around here. It’s definitely a lot of fun.”

The 7-under-par cut total equals the lowest cut in the Nationwide Tour’s 17-year history. Only twice before has the cut been at 7 under -- the first time coming at the 1991 Dakota Dunes Open when Ernie Els, David Toms, Tom Lehman and Chris DiMarco blitzed a course that measured only 6,181 yards. The second occurred at the 2004 Henrico County Open in suburban Richmond, Va., which had been soaked by summer rains and allowed golfers to play under lift, clean and place conditions and resulted in Daniel Chopra setting a Tour record with his winning score of 30-under par.

Almost everyone in the field has been psychologically bolstered this week by the barrage of birdie streaks, eagles and career-best scores. Coming in, Snedeker had made nine cuts in 13 starts this year but with zero top-25 finishes to show for it and a No. 93 spot on the money list.

“I felt like my game was rounding into shape. I played really good in Knoxville (last week), missed the cut and had nothing to show for it,” said Snedeker. “But I don’t have a lot to show for the way I’ve played all year. It’s nice to come to an event and be playing well and get some good breaks and make a few putts.”

Bowden looked like he’d set all kinds of records after notching a handful of birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes.

“It’s always fun out there when you’re playing well. It seems the more fun I have, the better I play,” he said. “We had a great group today and when you get guys in your group making putts, you just have to let that wheel roll.”

With extremely dry conditions turning the 7,024-yard layout into a pitch-and-putt, players are driving the greens on the shorter par-4s and hitting irons into the quartet of par 5s. Buckle had to settle for birdies on four holes where he was putting for eagle. Weekley had three eagle putts inside of 10 feet but managed to make only one.

“It could’ve gotten ugly out there today and it could’ve gotten ugly out there yesterday,” said Weekley, who hasn’t made a bogey in his opening 36 holes. “I’ve hit one bad shot in two days. I’m seeing my targets, seeing my lines. Some putts are going in and some aren’t, but that’s golf. This is probably the funnest golf course we play all year.”

Second-round News and Notes: Second-round play was suspended from 3:49 to 5:47 pm due to threatening conditions…Joe Daley matched the season’s best 9-hole score with a 7-under-par 29 on the back nine. His score also matched the tournament record for best nine-hole score…Craig Bowden and Scott Petersen each posted 6-under-par 30s on the front nine…Brad Ott, Joe Daley, Andrew Pratt, Joel Kribel and Scott Brown each had two eagles on the day…Brenden Pappas withdrew during the round due to an injury