May 21, 2004

Three bogeys on both the front nine and back nine dropped Navy senior golfer Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) from even par to 6-over par (146) on the second day of the NCAA East Regional at Yale on Friday.

Meanwhile, despite improving their overall score by six strokes, the Army golf team dropped three spots to 26th place out of 27 teams. 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.

Hurley, who began the second round tied for sixth, is tied for 38th with seven other golfers heading into Saturday's final round. Wake Forest's Billy Haas leads the field at 3-under par (137).

The Navy senior began the day with five straight pars, but then posted five bogeys in the next seven holes - including three in a row at the eighth, ninth and 10th holes. His final bogey came at the 17th.

For Army, 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).

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 final round will be held Saturday morning. The top 10 teams from the region advance to the NCAA Championship as do the top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team. The finals will be held June 1-4 at Cascades Golf Course, The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.

Top Individual Golfers
Pl. Name School Par +/- Round 1 Round 2 Total
1 Bill Haas Wake Forest -3 67 70 137
2 Camilo Villegas Florida -2 68 70 138
3 Kenneth Fahey Rhode Island -1 67 72 139
T4 Dustin Bray North Carolina +1 75 66 141
T4 Jonathan Dismuke Auburn +1 72 69 141
T4 Stuart Moore Auburn +1 70 71 141
T4 Richard Scott Georgia +1 69 72 141
T4 Ryan Thomas UAB +1 70 71 141
T9 Roberto Castro Georgia Tech +2 74 68 142
T9 Brent Delahoussaye Clemson +2 70 72 142
T9 James Farrah Georgetown +2 71 71 142
T9 Lance Goodson Vanderbilt +2 71 71 142
T9 Kasper Jorgensen Georgia State +2 71 71 142
T9 Luke List Vanderbilt +2 73 69 142
T9 Sean Moore Wake Forest +2 72 70 142
T9 Greg Pieczynski Penn State +2 71 71 142
T9 Aron Price Georgia So. +2 74 68 142
T9 Nathan Smith Duke +2 69 73 142
T36 BILLY HURLEY, NAVY +6 70 76 146

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)