Wednesday, June 21, 2006

            DEAL, England (June 21, 2006) - ETSU's Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) has faced adversity on the golf course before, but he managed to overcome a nearly insurmountable deficit Wednesday to survive the first day of match play in the 111^th British Amateur Championship at Royal St. George's.

            Davies, a rising senior and two-time first-team PING All-American, found himself down three holes with just three to play to Scotland's Jonathan King. However, Davies rallied to tie the match on the final hole and eventually won on the 22^nd hole.

            "Obviously, I've played in these conditions lots of time, but I'm just not used to it after a full season of college golf," said Davies, referring to the treacherous winds that reached 30 mph. "The wind was so strong that it was hard to putt because it was blowing the putter head around."

            Davies, along with teammates Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland) and Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh, Scotland) all competed during the two rounds of qualifying stroke play earlier this week, but only Davies and McNamara made the cut to reach today's start of match play. McNamara lost on Wednesday to Stuart Moore, 3 and 2.

            To follow Davies progress the rest of this week, visit www.randa.org or read ETSUBucs.com for a complete wrap up.