Moving from high school up to college ‘next generation’ wise…..
The Palmer Cup was played here in The Wild West this week. This is what it’s web site has to say about The Palmer Cup…
In 1997 Arnold Palmer was approached by the Golf Coaches Association of America regarding lending his name to an international collegiate event between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. The event would use a Ryder Cup-style format and bring together the top eight collegiate players in the United States against their counterparts from GB&I. Palmer, a former collegiate player himself, has been called America’s greatest Ambassador for the game of golf. With his blessing and the support of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company, the inaugural event was played at his own Bay Hill Club in Florida in June 1997.
“I had long thought that an international competition such as this would enrich the lives of young men through the universal bond of the great game of golf. This year is particularly significant since it comes on the centennial anniversary of the founding of golf on the college level,” said Mr. Palmer.
Great venues have highlighted the competition since its inception in 1997. After Bay Hill, the Palmer Cup was next contested in Scotland in 1998 on the Old and New Courses at St. Andrews. In subsequent years the matches have been played at such historic venues as The Honors Course, Royal Liverpool, Baltusrol, Doonbeg, Cassique, Ballybunion, Whistling Straits-The Irish, Prestwick, Caves Valley, Glasgow Golf Club Gailes Links and most recently Cherry Hills in 2009.
Upon conclusion of the 2002 event at Doonbeg in Ireland, a decision was made to alter the team composition by including European players with those from Great Britain and Ireland. The affects of this decision has significantly changed the Palmer Cup in its international appeal and competitiveness of the matches. Currently the Team USA leads Team Europe 6-5-1 with the European team having won three of the last five years.
During the short twelve year history of this event, the list of outstanding collegians that have participated include such names as: Luke Donald, Rory Sabbatini, Charles Howell, III, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Curtis, Lucas Glover, Bryce Molder, Graeme McDowell, Bill Haas, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore, D.J. Trahan, Alejandro Canazares, Gonzalo Castano, J.B. Holmes, 2006 USGA Amateur Champion Richard Ramsey, Open de Portugal winner Pablo Martin, Dustin Johnson, and Luke List.
The Palmer Cup was played at Cherry Hills Country Club, which is where Arnold won his only U.S. Open in 1960.
In addition to The Palmer Cup being held here, there was a local kid on the American team. Here is an article about it in the local rag, The Denver Post. And here is a article on the final round.
The European Team won.
But keep your eyes on all these kids.
Team USA Roster
Bud Cauley Alabama Freshman Jacksonville, FL
Morgan Hoffmann Oklahoma State Freshman Saddle Brook, NJ
Trent Leon Oklahoma State Senior Dallas, TX
Erik Flores UCLA Senior Grass Valley, CA
Adam Mitchell Georgia Senior Chattanooga, TN
Cameron Tringale Georgia Tech Senior Laguna Niguel, CA
Mike Van Sickle Marquette Senior Wexford, PA
Steve Ziegler Stanford Sophomore Broomfield, CO
Team Europe Roster
Jorge Campillo Indiana Senior Caceres, Spain
Stephan Gross Arizona State Sophomore Leimen, Germany
Leonardo Motta IULM-Milan Roasio, Italy
Henrik Norlander Augusta State Sophomore Danderyd, Sweden
Chris Paisley Tennessee Senior Newcastle, England
Andrea Pavan Texas A&M Junior Rome, Italy
Tim Sluiter Southern California Sophomore Hattem, The Netherlands
Robin Wingardh Tennessee Sophomore Morarp, Sweden
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