August 20, 1999

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

David Hearn, who will be entering his junior season at the University of Wyoming in the fall of 1999, advanced to the Final 32 of the United States Amateur Golf Championship on Wednesday at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., Aug. 16-22.

Hearn entered the original group of 312 amateurs at the U.S. Amateur after being the No. 1 qualifier at the Highland, Mich. District Qualifier. The U.S. Amateur began with two rounds of stroke play on Monday, Aug. 16 and Tuesday, Aug. 17 to cut the field of 312 golfers down to 64. Hearn shot rounds of 80-72 for a 152 total to earn his way into the round of 64.

On Wednesday, Aug. 18, the top 64 qualifiers remaining from the two rounds of stroke play began the first round of match play, pitting golfers head-to-head against each other in a single elimination format. Hearn entered the first round of match play as the 63rd seed out of the 64 golfers and thus faced No. 2 seed Matthew Jones of Tempe, Ariz., and Arizona State University. Hearn had to go an extra hole, but came away with the victory in 19 holes over Jones.

On Thursday, Hearn, will face Scott Weatherly of Fort Payne, Ala. The two will tee off at 8:20 a.m., Pacific time at Pebble Beach Golf Links. The winner of that match will advance to an afternoon round of match play, with the field being trimmed to only eight competitors by Thursday evening.

"I can't say I'm that surprised by David's (Hearn) showing," said University of Wyoming men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow. "David is very good in match play. He hits the ball extremely long, which can be pretty intimidating to an opposing player. David also doesn't make many mistakes on the golf course, and makes a lot of birdies, both of those characteristics make for a good match play golfer. The U.S. Amateur brings together the top amateur golfers in the country. This is a great accomplishment for David."

Initiated in 1895, the U.S. Amateur is the oldest of the United States Golf Association (USGA) Championships. This year's competition will mark the fourth time the U.S. Amateur will be played at Pebble Beach. It was also played at Pebble Beach in 1929, 1947 and 1961. The 1961 event saw Ohio State University senior Jack Nickalus win the U.S. Amateur title.

Hearn, a native of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, is coming off an outstanding sophomore season at the University of Wyoming, placing seventh in the 1999 conference championships and finishing 17th at the NCAA West Regional.