The United States and European teams have been announced for the 2011 Palmer Cup at The Stanwich Club outside Greenwich, Conneticut. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be played June 9th -11th.
Team USA will consist of Blayne Barber of Auburn, UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay, Abilene Christian’s Alex Carpenter, Russell Henley of Georgia, Oregon’s Daniel Miernicki, Bank Vongvanij of Florida, Washington’s Chris Williams and Stanford’s Andrew Yun. Henley and Miernicki were part of last year’s victories American squad at Royal Portrush with Henley posting a 3-1 record and Miernicki a 2-2 mark. The United States team will be lead by head coach Tim Poe of Central Missouri and assistant coach Michael Burcin of South Carolina.
Representing Europe will be Arkansas’ Sebastian Cappelen, Ignacio Elvira of Texas A&M, Texas Tech’s Nils Floren, Jeff Karlsson of Kennesaw State, Liberty’s Robert Karlsson, Nick MacAndrew of Aberdeen, Augusta State’s Henrik Norlander and UCLA’s Pontus Widegren. Widegren went 3-1 at the 2010 Palmer Cup while Norlander was 2-2. Norlander also posted a 2-2 mark at the 2009 Palmer Cup at Cherry Hills and helped lead Europe to victory. Floren, Norlander, Widegren and both Jeff and Robert Karlsson hail from Sweden while Cappelen is a native of Denmark, Elvira is from Spain and MacAndrew is Scottish. Rickard Lindberg of the Swedish Golf Federation will serve as head coach of the European team and Northwestern’s David Inglis will serve as his assistant. Inglis is the first former Palmer Cup player to serve as a coach in the event after representing Scotland in both 2001 and 2003.
The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 7-6-1.
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, Cherry Hills, Royal Portrush Golf Club, and, most recently, The Stanwich Club in 2011.
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 United States leads the all-time series 7-6-1.
During the short thirteen 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, 2009 U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover, Bryce Molder, 2010 U.S. Open Champion 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.
