April 21, 2003
The 2002 Patriot League Golf Championship finished 54 regulation holes in a three-way tie for medalist honors between Army’s Scott Manley (Dove Canyon, Calif.), Kevin Lee (Chula Vista, Calif.) and Navy’s Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.). Additionally, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Jesse Smith (Barrington, N.H.) finished just two strokes behind the leaders after carding a final-round 68, the best score of the day.
All four players will be in the lineup and battling for the individual title, as well as helping their team chase top honors, at the 2003 PL Championship Tournament Saturday (4/26) and Sunday (4/27) at Saucon Valley C.C. in Center Valley, Pa. Lehigh University, which finished third in the team standings last year, is the host for the 2003 Tournament and will join second-place Navy and fourth-place 51³Ô¹ÏÍø as the top challengers to knock off defending League champion Army.
Manley, Hurley and Lee all broke the League’s three-round record for low score with a one-under-par 209 last year at The West Point Golf Course while Smith carded a 211. Manley, who entered the second day of competition four strokes off the pace, then won the individual title on the third hole of sudden-death.
Manley and Lee will look to lead the Black Knights to their second-straight title. Army captured top honors last year with a team score of 847. Navy, which won the PL title three consecutive years from 1999-2001, finished second in the team standings with an 876, nosing out Lehigh (878) and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø (896) in a tight battle for runner-up honors. Rounding out the field in 2002 were Bucknell (907), American (908), Holy Cross (938) and Lafayette (974).
Navy joins Army as the only teams returning two players from the 2002 All-League squad. For finishing in the Top 10 in the League Championship, Manley, Lee and Hurley earned All-League recognition. Hurley’s teammate Brian Crum (Fairfax, Va.) was 11 strokes off the pace last year and placed eighth individually for the Midshipmen.
Army and Navy have combined to win 10 of the first 12 PL team championships. Army, a seven-time champion, enters the PL Tournament coming off a third-place finish in the New England Championships, the Black Knights’ only Top 5 finish of the spring.
Navy, on the other hand, has won the team title in its last two outings at the Navy Invitational and the Rehoboth Beach Invitational and finished second at Towson’s Drew Upton Classic in late March. The Mids also defeated Army in head-to-head competition to close out the fall season.
Five other players from last year’s Top 20 return to this year’s Tournament, including a pair for host Lehigh and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. Patrick McCahill (Melbourne, Fla.), who tied for 11th last year with a 222, and Ron Kashlak (Scotch Plains, N.J.) will carry the banner for the Mountain Hawks, who won the PL title in 1997 and 1998. Kashlak placed 15th last year with a 225. In addition to Smith, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø returns Ben Selberg (Englewood, Calif.), who tied for 19th last year with a final score of 229.
Other Top 20 players returning include Abbie Valentine (Bayville, N.Y.) of Bucknell, who tied for 11th with a 222, and American’s Seth Kaplan (Dallas, Texas), who tied for 19th with a 229.