Golf Blogger - Golf News and Golf Blog

Historic Glasgow Gailes Golf Links to host 2008 Palmer Cup

Posted by Big G under General, Latest Golf News, Mens Amateur, Mens Amateur Golf, Scotch Corner, Student Golf, UK Varsity, USA Collegiate

College golf’s Ryder Cup-style competition set for June 26-27

This year’s Palmer Cup, a transatlantic men’s student golf match which started in 1997 shall be hosted by Glasgow Golf Club and played around the historic Glasgow Gailes Golf Links.

Glasgow Gailes Golf Club

The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be played June 26-27, on the 6,903 yard, par 71 Willie Park Junior design when the top collegiate players from the United States tee off against their counterparts from Europe. The Americans lead the series, 6-4-1, but have lost the last two competitions in Europe.

“The Glasgow Golf Club is extremely pleased and honoured that its Gailes Links course has been selected to host the prestigious Palmer Cup in 2008,” said Glasgow Golf Club Captain Robin Crawford. “We look forward to welcoming all those participating in the event.”

Glasgow Golf Club, founded in 1787 and the 9th oldest Golf Club in the world, owns two courses, Killermont in Bearsden, Glasgow, and Gailes Links in Ayrshire. The Gailes Links course was inaugurated in 1892 and lies in the heart of Scotland’s Ayrshire Golf Coast, only a few miles from Turnberry and Royal Troon. The layout is the work of Willie Park Junior who also designed Olympia Fields North in Illinois and was himself British Open Champion in 1887 and 1889. Gailes Links was completed in 1912.

Gailes Links has been selected once again as a final qualifying course, this time for the 2009 British Open Championship. It will also hold the 2010 Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, the 2012 Home Internationals and, of course, the 2008 Palmer Cup. In addition, Glasgow Golf Club hosts annually two Scottish Order of Merit Championships, the Tennant Cup and the Edward Trophy, both competitions of great antiquity.

“The GCAA is significantly excited at the opportunity with regards to Glasgow Golf Clubs Gailes Links hosting the Palmer Cup,” said GCAA President John Fields. “It’s a wonderful venue for our most important event. It’s a privilege and honor for our student-athletes to experience Scottish golf at its finest.”

The first Palmer Cup was held in Bay Hill in 1997 and has been staged at some of the most prestigious clubs in the world. Previous Palmer Cup host venues include St. Andrews Old and New Courses, The Honors Course, Royal Liverpool, Baltusrol, Doonbeg, Cassique, Ballybunion, Whistling Straits, Prestwick Golf Club and Caves Valley. Past participants include Open Champion Ben Curtis, Jonathan Byrd, Luke Donald, Charles Howell III, Bo Van Pelt, Michael Hoey, Matt Kuchar, Peter Lawrie, Hunter Mahan, D.J. Trahan, Ryan Moore, J.B. Holmes and Gonzalo Fdez.-Castaño.