July 24, 2003

Navy rising senior Billy Hurley turned in a fifth-place tying score after the first round of the Porter Cup Wednesday at the Niagara Falls Country Club.

Hurley, a three-time All-Patriot League golfer out of Leesburg, Va., shot a 5-under par 65, just two shots behind leaders Matt Davidson and Brandt Snedeker.

The 45th Annual Porter Cup features some of the premier amateur golfers in the country with 26 of the top-32 players as ranked by Golfweek/Titleist participating in the 72-hole medal-play event.

Through the years, many of the greats of today have participated in the Porter Cup. PGA stars such as Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard have competed, while Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Scott Verplank have won the title.

Featured players in this year's tournament include Wake Forest's Bill Haas, a 2003 US Open participant and First-Team All-American who tied a Niagara Falls Country Club course record in last year's Porter Cup, firing a third round 8-under 62.

Meanwhile, top-ranked amateur Lee Williams of Auburn finished second in the 2003 NCAA Championship. Other noteworthy collegians in action include 2003 Northeast Amateur Champion Chris Nallen, 2002 US Amateur Semifinalist Dustin Bray and 2002 Porter Cup runner-up Matt Rosenfeld.

Davidson and Snedeker top this year's leaders board after 18 holes with a 7-under par 63. A senior at Furman, Davidson was named the 2002 Southern Conference Player of the Year, while Snedeker, a senior at Vanderbilt, is a two-time All-American.

Third place is held by Matt Hendrix, a junior at Clemson who garnered Third-Team All-America kudos as a member of the 2003 NCAA Championship team, while Casey Wittenberg will be a freshman at Oklahoma State this fall.

Hurley, meanwhile, shares fifth with three other competitors - Jerry Courville, the 2002 US Mid-Amateur runner-up; Chez Reavie, a two-time Honorable Mention All-American from Arizona State; and Luke Hickmott, a member of the Australian National Team.

Hurley, who produced a team-low 73.35 stroke average this past year, earned a last-minute invitation to the tournament via a special application in which he filled out. Just recently notified, Hurley wrapped up his plebe summer detail duties at the Academy Sunday before heading to Western New York. Hurley posted nine top-10 finishes during the 2002-03 year and placed 27th at the NCAA West Regional in Auburn, Wash. in May.

Second-round action of the Porter Cup continues Thursday.