Thursday, June 02, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (June 2, 2005) - East Tennessee State sophomore Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) has been named National Amateur of the Month for May by the Southern Golf Association. Davies earned the honor on the strength of two standout performances during the month.

        Davies won individual honors in the Kentucky Derby Invitational May 9-10 with an impressive 10-under-par 206 total, three strokes better than high-ranked collegian John Holmes of Kentucky. It was a school-record fifth tournament victory for Davies this year. Two weeks later, Davies was runner-up at 14-under-par 199 in the elite-field NCAA East Regional at the Country Club of Tennessee near Nashville.

        The monthly SGA award, in its third year, is selected from among amateur performances in all age groups by a national blue-ribbon panel of golf officials, coaches and journalists from among amateurs of all ages throughout the U.S. Georgia Southern senior Aron Price and Duke's Ryan Blaum were earlier winners this season.

       The 103-year-old Southern Golf Association promotes amateur golf in a variety of ways, including the staging of the prestigious Southern Amateur Championship, the 99^th edition set this year for July 13-16 at the Dunes Club in N. Myrtle Beach, SC. The SGA's 33rd Southern Junior will be June 14-16 at Golden Bear Club outside Orlando, FL.