Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Selvage | The American team won the 65th Annual St. Lawrence Cup International Golf Challenge at...... read more read more
WATERTOWN, N.Y. - Striving for the lowest score possible may not sound like a difficult task, but when it comes to swinging a club and hitting a little white ball into a hole hundreds of yards away, the numbers can add up fast.
Americans and Canadians battled each other for the title of champions and the trophy during the 65th annual St. Lawrence Cup International Golf Challenge, held Saturday and Sunday at the Watertown Golf Club.
The St. Lawrence Cup tournament was established in 1951, and since then, the U.S. and Canada have taken turns hosting the event.
Each team was made up of 14 highly skilled players – 12 male players and two female players. The American team was composed of active-duty military, retired military, Civilian Employees or military spouses from the Fort Drum community, and the Canadian team was made up of military members and civilians from Kingston, Ontario.
The first day of the tournament was played by seven teams of two battling each other, and the second day featured 14 head-to-head matches. There were a total of 21 points to be earned in the tournament.
Since the Canadians won the tournament last year, they were required to earn only 10.5 out of the 21 points to win again this year. However, the American team needed to score 11 points to win the tournament.
The players started with a practice round on Friday to become familiar with the course.
Staff Sgt. Dustin Phipps, a member of the American team, said this was his second year playing golf, and he was surprised when he was asked to play in the tournament by a member of the golf league he plays in each week.
The competition kicked off at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the Canadians were fighting to keep the trophy in their grasp, but they were at a disadvantage since one of the players was unable to attend.
The tournament was played in a style called best ball. Instead of stroke play, where the winner is the team who has taken the fewest number of strokes over the course of the round, the tournament used match play, a scoring system in which a team earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents. This is the same way the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are played.
The American team outplayed the Canadian team during the first day of the tournament, scoring five points and allowing the Canadians to score only two.
During the tournament, the atmosphere was filled with the camaraderie, smiles and laughter between the two teams.
“I was playing better than I normally play,” Phipps said.
The individual head-to-head matches were played the following day. The Canadian team needed to score a minimum of 8.5 points to take the trophy home and maintain the title of champions. Despite their efforts, however, the Canadians would go home empty handed this year.
With a final score of 15.5, the American team was able to pull through and win the tournament.
“Our players dug down deep and really played hard,” said Dave Mushtare, the American team captain.
Unlike most golf tournaments, there was no cash reward or prizes for winning. The teams were playing for their country and bragging rights.
“Any time we get to do anything with our American cousins is great,” said Col. Karl Michand, the Canadian team captain. “Even if it’s training, operations or a round of golf. It was a very spirited game with both teams wanting the win, but it was all in fun and a great way to renew old friendships and start new ones.”
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2015 15:07 |
| Story ID: | 173507 |
| Location: | WATERTOWN, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Drum team takes back Cup, by SSG Michael Selvage, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT