May 20, 2004

NEW HAVEN, CONN. - After one round of play at the NCAA East Regional, Navy's Billy Hurley is tied for sixth individually and the Army golf team sits in a tie with Towson University for 23rd place out of 27 teams with a combined score of 310. The Black Knights are 24 strokes behind top-ranked Florida, which leads the pack with an 18-hole total of 286.

With four birdies on his final nine holes, Hurley is tied for sixth after the opening round of the NCAA East Regional held Thursday at the Course at Yale with a score of even par. The senior is tied with five other golfers and is three shots behind co-leaders Kenneth Fahey of Rhode Island and Wake Forest's Bill Haas.

Hurley, who opened the day on the 10th hole, pulled to within a shot of the leaders after his fourth birdie in seven holes after making the turn, but bogeyed his final two holes to end his round with an even-par score of 70.

Hurley began the day with a bogey on No. 10 and added a second bogey on No. 13 to make the turn at two-over par. Hurley's fortunes changed on the front nine with back-to-back birdies on holes No. 1 and No. 2. After adding a third birdie at the fifth hole to move to 1-under par, the senior posted a fourth birdie on No. 7 before the bogeys on his final two holes.

Ten teams and two individuals from each of the three regional finals will advance to the NCAA Championship final held June 1-4 at Cascades Golf Course, The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. As an individual, Hurley must finish first or second among those golfers whose teams do not advance to the finals.

For Army, Pete Phipps carded nine straight pars on the back nine to finish at five-over-par after one round of play, tying him for 56th place overall. Phipps fired an even par on 14 of the 18 holes and added a birdie on hole 14.

Junior captain Scott Manley, playing in his second regional in three years, started the tournament strong but faltered a bit on the back nine. Manley, who sits in a tie for 72nd, parred 12 holes and birdied hole 12 to finish with a first round score of 76, tying his personal best at regional competitions.

Sophomore Austin Luher is three strokes behind Manley with a nine-over 79, finishing strong with three pars in his last four holes to place 111th. Luher saved par on 10 of the 18 holes on the day.

Sophomore D.J. Reeves is the only Black Knight to fire two birdies in round one, once on hole 16 (a par 5) and a second on hole 4 (a par 4). He also parred seven holes and finished 118th with a 10-over score of 80.

Finally, junior Mark Erwin rounded out the Army contingent with an 11-over 81 to place 129th. Erwin raced out of the gates with four pars on the first four holes, but was tripped up after posting bogies on four of his last five holes.

Kenneth Fahey of Rhode Island and Bill Haas of Wake Forest paced the 141-player field, each with a three-under 67. The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals advance to the NCAA Tournament in Hot Springs, Va. Army is 16 strokes behind 10th place Auburn (294). Second round action gets underway Friday morning from the Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Conn.

Click here for complete results of round one.

Top 10 Individuals
T1. Kenneth Fahey, Rhode Island 67
T1. Bill Haas, Wake Forest 67
3. Camilo Villegas, Florida 68
T4. Richard Scott, Georgia 69
T4. Nathan Smith, Duke 69
T6. Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson 70
T6. BILLY HURLEY, NAVY 70
T6. Stuart Moore, Auburn 70
T6. Stephen Poole, Clemson 70
T6. David Skinns, Tennessee 70
T6. Ryan Thomas, UAB 70

Top 10 Teams
1. Florida 286
2. Georgia 287
T3. Clemson 288
T3. Georgia State 288
5. Penn State 290
6. Georgia Tech 291
7. Rhode Island 292
T8. North Carolina 294
T8. Duke 294
T8. Auburn 294
T8. UAB 294

ARMY SCORERS
T56. Pete Phipps 41-34-75 (+5)
T72. Scott Manley 37-39-76 (+6)
T111. Austin Luher 42-37-79 (+9)
T118. D.J. Reeves 41-39-80 (+10)
T129. Mark Erwin 39-42-81 (+11)
Team Total 161-149-310 (T23 of 27)