Naval Officer (USNA '04) Embarks on PGA Tour Career

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Naval Officer Embarks on PGA Tour Career

By KAREN CROUSE
Published: January 10, 2012
NYTimes.com

HONOLULU — Over lunch Monday in the wardroom of the U.S.S. Chung-Hoon, Lt. j.g. Lauren Griebel acknowledged
that she met President Obama over the holidays while playing a round of golf with her father on a local course. Smiling
broadly, Griebel said, “It wasn’t Billy Hurley, but yeah.”

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Billy Hurley III, 29, is the first graduate of the Naval Academy to earn a PGA Tour card.

As her voice trailed off, laughter filled the silence. Leading the revelry was Billy Hurley III, a Naval Academy graduate
who spent two years on the Chung-Hoon as part of his mandatory five-year military commitment and returned to town
this week to fulfill his golfing dream.

With a No. 25 finish last year in the Nationwide Tour standings, Hurley, 29, became the first Naval Academy graduate
to earn a PGA Tour card. To the casual golf fan, Hurley is just another face in the sea of newcomers competing at the Sony
Open, the first full-field event of the season. But to the sailors aboard the Chung-Hoon, he is a luminary along the lines
of Roger Staubach or Yogi Berra, two others who delayed professional athletic careers for naval wartime service.

“It’s really inspirational for our sailors to think about all the golf he gave up to serve his country,” said the ship’s commander,
Justin Orlich, who added, “It’s nice for them to see that someone who served five years in the military honorably can step out
nto the civilian world and so quickly reach a high level of success.”

Rest of story HERE

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That is pretty impressive when you think about how many try every yr to get to that point and do it full time for yrs compared to him who had a full time job.
 
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