May 21, 2004

NEW HAVEN, CONN. - Despite improving their overall score by six strokes, the Army golf team dropped three spots to 26th place out of 27 teams at the NCAA East Regional at Yale University. The Black Knights finished the second round with a composite score of 304, bringing their 36-hole score to 614. Army is 39 strokes behind top-ranked Penn State, which leapfrogged Florida by one stroke for first place (575) today.

Junior Pete Phipps continued to pace the Black Knights with a four-over 74. Phipps collected three birdies on the afternoon, all on the front nine, to bring his two-day total to 149 (+9). He trails leader Bill Haas of Wake Forest by 12 strokes.

Junior captain Scott Manley, playing in his second regional in three years, matched his score from round one with a six-over 76. After posting 12 pars on the day, Manley's composite now stands at 152, tying him for 81st place overall.

Sophomore Austin Luher lowered his score from yesterday's round by two shots, pulling him into 119th position overall with a combined score of 156 (79-77). Sophomore D.J. Reeves fired a 12-over 82 in round two, dropping him into a tie for 132nd overall. Junior Mark Erwin showed the biggest improvement of the Army contingent, carding three birdies on the day to jump to 124th after lowering his score by four strokes from the previous round.

Haas continued to pace the 141-player field, shooting even par to remain at three-under for the tournament. The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals advance to the NCAA Tournament in Hot Springs, Va. Army is 26 strokes behind 10th place Jacksonville State (588). The third and final round gets underway Saturday morning from the Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Conn.

Click here for complete results of round two.

Army Scorers
T60. Pete Phipps 75-74-149 (+9)
T81. Scott Manley 76-76-152 (+12)
119. Austin Luher 79-77-156 (+16)
T129. Mark Erwin 81-77-158 (+18)
T132. D.J. Reeves 80-82-162 (+22)
Team Total 310-304-614 (26th of 27)