And it had taken plenty of time at sea during his five-year commitment to the U. S. Navy where all he could do was dream about someday playing on Tour. Every now and then, he would smack a single ball off the steel ship deck, watching it arc and fall into the deep blue sea.
Once he reached the PGA Tour, it had taken time to climb and fight to make each year, each week and each round better than the last. To hang on was his first instinct. To
Billy Hurley III was a four-year letterwinner at the U. S. Naval Academy and won a pair of VSGA Amateur championships.
“ I think Billy has a different perspective on life and he doesn’ t worry about that little 4 1 / 2-inch hole in the ground”
win was a reward for the effort.
And then following his father’ s sudden death last year, it had taken time to heal— so much time, questioning, therapy, faith and family. There were no shortcuts or easy answers. Only pain and time morphed into the balm that allowed Hurley to move forward.
“ I guess I’ m most surprised at how many 40-year olds told me they were crying while they watched me win that tournament,” said Hurley, 34, who now lives in Annapolis, Md.“ I didn’ t realize how much of an emotional win it was for the greater golf community.”
But it was, not just because Hurley had labored for so long as a journeyman professional, but because of the unique nature of his path before he ever touched PGA Tour hardware.
The quiet Virginian was introduced to the game by his father, Bill Hurley, Jr., who worked as an assistant club pro before spending 25 years as a police officer in Prince William County. The elder Hurley worked as security during the President’ s Cup and had escorted touring pros on the course.
“ That’ s really my first memories of the PGA Tour, listening to what my dad told me the players had said inside the ropes,” said the police sergeant’ s son.
His dad turned over Billy and his brother Dan to Guttenberg for lessons as teens, and the Virginia pro helped connect Billy with Naval Academy men’ s golf coach, Pat Owen.
“ As a plebe, Billy was very quiet and hard working,” said Owen.“ The things that stick out in my mind about his development are his intelligence, his willingness to try and learn new things, and his tremendous work ethic.”
And it was at the Naval Academy that Hurley“ blossomed,” added Guttenberg.
“ He got a newfound confidence in his game and it was at the Academy that it really took off,” Guttenberg said.“ He’ s kind of like Fred Funk in that Billy’ s always been down the middle, on the green and doesn’ t make a lot of mistakes.”
After his four years at the Naval Academy, where Hurley was an All-American golfer, he shipped off for five years of active duty in the U. S. Navy as a first lieutenant. His first duty station was on a cruiser in Mayport, Fla., on the USS Gettysburg.
The quantitative economics graduate returned to the Naval Academy to teach economics before shipping off to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he deployed twice on the destroyer, USS Chung-Hoon.
Hurley supervised 20 soldiers on the ship. He and his team oversaw launching and recovering helicopters from the flight deck, operated the ship’ s two smaller speed boats, oversaw passenger transfers from other boats, conducted all of the anchoring, mooring, refueling and rigging of the ship.
He also drove 10,000-ton ships, navigating them through the Suez Canal and into the open seas, spanning the Persian
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24 V IRGINIA G OLFER | S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2016 vsga. org