Honoring Mr. Palmer - 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup

It will be one of the highlights of my career working alongside such talented contributors at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup in Mr. Palmer’s backyard.

So much credit goes to the media squad of Alex Gelman, Carson Racich, Marty Lafica, and Cavender Neutze for turning eyes our way and helping create one of the most memorable weeks for many👀

Thank you to the Laurel Valley Golf Club staff and all who played a part in being so welcoming and having the course in superb condition.

Teamwork IS the dreamwork, and until next time, see below for photos from the week (June 2 - June 13):

(picture by Carson Racich)

The male GCAA staff members lodged on the second floor of the clubhouse at Laurel Valley Golf Club. The atmosphere felt quite similar to staying on the second floor of my grandparents' house in Grand Haven, Mich., or returning to college. A mixture of both, I would say. There was a room per person to sleep in (first image) and shower rooms and bathrooms to share (second and third images).

Players/coaches were housed in the below cottages. Our tournament office was in the middle building in the second image. Safe to say everyone got their steps in and calves engaged while on-site:)

(picture by Alex Gelman)

Arnold Palmer and Laurel Valley Golf Club have a rich history together. Mr. Palmer co-founded Laurel Valley, which is located about 12 miles from his hometown of Latrobe, Penn., and later renovated it. The 1975 Ryder Cup was held there, and Mr. Palmer captained Team USA to victory. His team included World Golf Hall of Fame members Billy Casper, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Gene Littler, Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, and Tom Weiskopf, as well as major winners Al Geiberger and Lou Graham, future PGA TOUR broadcaster Bob Murphy, and 82-time PGA TOUR winner Sam Snead's nephew, J.C. Snead. That Ryder Cup was the only team event held at Laurel Valley until this Palmer Cup.

Palmer and Nicklaus, two of the greatest to ever swing a golf club, have their own historical past at Laurel Valley. The pair won both the 1970 National Four-Ball Championship and 1971 National Team Championship there, and signed photographs of them together are displayed throughout the club. What might be most memorable, however, was what you can view below from the 1965 PGA Championship.

Other highlight events hosted at Laurel Valley Golf Club include the 1989 U.S. Senior Open 2005 Senior PGA Championship.

After a couple days on the course getting prepared for tournament play, the opening ceremonies kicked everything off. ⬇️

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

My job pre-ceremonies was to go over the script with the evening's MC, Golf Channel's Todd Lewis. Through the time crunch, Todd took the time to nail each pronunciation, and it was a pleasure getting to work with him and talk about the day's previous news (PGA TOUR and LIV Golf merger).

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

After a few speeches, opening round pairings were announced. The Arnold Palmer Cup is the only major tournament where men and women are featured playing side-by-side as partners. The first round is Mixed Four-Ball, meaning all four players in the match (two male and two female) play their own balls throughout the round. The winner is the team with the lowest aggregate score over the amount of holes played. The next two rounds are Foursomes and Mixed Foursomes, respectively, where two teams of two apiece compete in a match using only one ball per team. Alternate shots are taken until the hole is completed.

The two pictures above involved Julia Lopez Ramirez and Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (first image) grouped together in their match and Amari Avery and Gordon Sargent (second image) together in theirs. Both groupings knew each other well, as they both went 2-0 in the 2022 Palmer Cup when paired together.

(Photo by Carson Racich)

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

(Photo by Carson Racich)

These two have been in a relationship for well over two years, if you can't tell.

(Photo by Carson Racich)

Team USA's Ashleigh Park and her Oregon and Team USA head coach Derek Radley

(Photo by Carson Racich)

Team USA's Caleb Surratt with his Tennessee head coach and Team International assistant coach Brennan Webb

(Photo by Carson Racich)

Team USA's Antonia Malate with her San Jose State and Team USA assistant coach Kortnie Barrett

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

Two Team USA team photos

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

Two Team International team photos

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

Before heading down to the 10th tee for the opening ceremonies, players and coaches received a fireside chat presented by Rolex with World Golf Hall of Fame members Curtis Strange and Nancy Lopez, who are pictured in the middle of the two above photos. I got to sit in on the last 10 or so minutes of the chat, and it was cool to hear how they met so many years ago and how Nancy looked up to Curtis when they were in college.

Tournament play began on Thursday, June 8, at 7:30 am EST.

While Alex handled group photos and 1st-hole tee shots and Carson on-the-course action shots, I was on the practice range snagging any angles I could.

North Carolina and Team USA teammates Ford, left, and Austin Greaser

(Karl tweaked his back during Wednesday's College-Am. He practiced on Thursday as if he were to play, gave it his all in practice, but decided to sit the tournament out to be in his best shape for the next week's U.S. Open. After all of that and going to the doctor twice with my coworker, I'm happy that he both got to enjoy his stay and play in the U.S. Open).

(Photo by Carson Racich)

Team International’s Max Kennedy provided fireworks in the day’s final match to finish with fellow Ireland native Lauren Walsh. Needing to win the 18th hole to halve their match against Team USA’s Zoe Campos and Maxwell Moldovan, Kennedy hit the 198-yard approach shot two feet to the hole, which he eagled to halve the match and maintain Team International's 6.5-5.5 lead after 12 matches.

“That was special,” Kennedy said. “We were under the gun coming down to the last (hole), and I hit a good shot. Lauren’s been keeping me in it all day, so it was my time to give a little back.”

“We thought we’d have to make an eagle coming down to the last, and he’s been hitting that 7-wood great all day,” said Walsh. “I was walking up hoping that it was a 7-wood number for him.”

Friday's two-round day began at 7:30 am EST. Photag posts were similar to the day before; Alex on 10 tee getting group photos and tee shots, Carson handling 1st-tee group photos and tee shots (only difference being that Friday was a two-tee start when Thursday was only one).

Tyran Snyders, Christiaan Maas, and Christo Lamprecht are all South African natives. It was cool to hear different languages between them throughout the week.

This guy's (Team International's Sampson Zheng) hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth hole, their 14th of the round, sparked his and Josele Ballester’s 5&3 win over Team USA’s Tommy Kuhl and Derek Hitchner.

“What a time and place to do it,” Zheng said of his second-ever 1 in tournament play. “We were going 3Up into the hole and I knew that I needed to hit one close coming down the stretch. The strike was good, so I knew it was going to get there. Hit it 12 short and it just rolled right in. I saw it disappear, and Josele and I started playing rugby in celebration."

(Photo by Carson Racich)

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

(Photo by Carson Racich)

Team USA won seven of the 12 Foursomes matches to take the 13-11 lead.

The round’s final match to come in brought all watching around to witness. Team International’s Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Chiara Tamburlini went 5Up through seven holes and 3Up making the turn, but Team USA’s Zoe Campos and Amanda Sambach used four birdies on the back nine, including one on the match’s final hole, to claim the 2Up victory and maintain Team USA’s lead they gained in Amari Avery/Antonia Malate’s 2&1 win over Team International’s Carla Bernat and Julia Lopez Ramirez.

“We didn’t play our best in the first nine, but we were never out of it,” Sambach said. “We were talking all day about how we like to be from behind, so we kept it together and got some putts to drop.”

“As soon as we won our first hole, I knew that we could come back from it,” Campos said.

Round 3, Mixed Foursomes, began at 1:30 pm EST.

(Photo by Alex Gelman)

Two Arizona State Sun Devils (Preston Summerhays and Ashley Menne) paired with together being photographed by an Arizona State Sun Devil for the second time in as many days