Amateurs win rare upset at 75th Hudson Cup; Pros prevail in 32nd Senior Hudson Cup
The Amateur team accomplished a rare feat in handily winning the 75th Hudson Cup, 16.5-3.5, over the PGA professionals; while the Senior PGA professionals won the 32nd Senior Hudson Cup, 13.5-6.5, over the Senior Amateur team. Both events were held concurrently this week at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Wash.
This is just the ninth time in the 75-year history of the Hudson Cup that the Amateur team has won. They’ve won only twice in the last 45 years, with the most recent win coming in 2016.
Building a large 8-2 lead after the first day’s play of Foursomes and Four-Ball matches in the Hudson Cup, the Amateur team kept the pressure on during the final day’s Singles matches, winning 8.5 points out of 10 to easily clinch the victory.
First on the board for the Amateurs and setting the tone in the Singles matches was Andrew Von Lossow of Spokane, who easily defeated PGA professional Austin Hurt of Wing Point G&CC, 6 and 5. Von Lossow was named the 2022 WA Golf Men’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, and he showed it by handling Hurt, who last month won the PNWPGA Professional Championship.
The dominoes started to fall and the runaway was on as the other members of the Amateur team started racking up lopsided wins. Dalton Conn defeated Darren Black, 4 and 3; Zach Foushee defeated Colin Inglis, 5 and 4; Paul Mitzel defeated Jason Aichele, 4 and 3; Robbie Ziegler defeated Liam Kendregan, 3 and 1.
Landon Banks was three down after 11 holes in his match against Shane Prante, but proceeded to win the next five holes to win the match, 2 and 1. And Johnny Carey was four down after nine holes in his match again Ryan Benzel, but clawed his way back into the match, winning the 18th hole to tie it and secure half a point for the Amateurs.
Click here for final scoring and complete information about the Hudson Cup and Senior Hudson Cup.
In the Senior Hudson Cup, the Senior PGA professionals held a slim one-point lead after the first day of Foursomes and Four-Ball matches, but pulled away from the Senior Amateurs in the Singles matches, winning eight of the 10 matches.
This is now the 23rd time the Senior PGA professionals have won the Senior Hudson Cup, with the Senior Amateur team winning nine times.
At the completion of the matches each year, awards are presented to the outstanding player on each team as decided by votes of the opposite team. The awards honor Chuck Congdon, Larry Lamberger, Bob McKendrick and Bill Eggers, four great players with outstanding Hudson Cup records and a strong tie to the event’s rich history.
The Charles Congdon Award went to amateur Zach Foushee and the Larry Lamberger Award was presented to PGA Professional David Phay. In the Senior Hudson Cup, the Bill Eggers Award was presented to senior amateur Greg Chianello, while PGA Professional Tim Fraley was bestowed the Bob McKendrick Award.
This year, the Amateurs in the Hudson Cup were captained by Steve Hagen, and the PGA Professionals captained by Steve Bowen, the head PGA Professional at Illahe Hills Country Club. In the Senior Hudson Cup, the senior Amateurs were captained by Jay Poletiek, and the senior PGA Professionals captained by Scott Leritz, the head PGA Professional at Royal Oaks.
The Hudson Cup is a Ryder Cup-style team competition that pits 10 of the best amateur players from Washington and Oregon against the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA professionals. The Senior Hudson Cup has the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA senior members against the top 10 senior amateurs from Washington and Oregon.
The Oregon Golf Association (OGA) and Washington Golf (WA Golf) work together to select the 10 amateurs and 10 senior amateurs to compete against the professionals. Of the 10 players in each category, five will represent the OGA and five will represent WA Golf. Amateur team members are selected based on season-long performance points earned through each respective Association.
The Pacific Northwest Section PGA also selects their professional team members based on performance points earned throughout the season.
History of the Hudson Cup
In 1949, two PGA Professionals from Oregon, Larry Lamberger and Al Zimmerman, thought the Pacific Northwest Section PGA should pay tribute to Robert A. Hudson, Sr., a successful businessman from Portland. Hudson is renowned in the golf world as the savior of the Ryder Cup matches after resurrecting it just two years removed from World War II. Because of Hudson’s generosity, the Ryder Cup was restored in 1947 at Portland Golf Club after Hudson came forward and covered most of the expenses of conducting the competition, including the cost of transporting the British team to the United States.
The first Hudson Cup matches were held at Portland Golf Club in 1949. The format was patterned after the Ryder Cup, with 36-hole foursome matches the first day and 36-hole singles the second day. The professionals, led by Bud Ward, Stan Leonard and Chuck Congdon, posted a 12.5 to 2.5 victory. When Hudson learned of the matches, he immediately insisted on footing the bill, and continued to do so through 1972. Today, the Pacific Northwest Section PGA is assisted by funds contributed by Washington Golf, the Oregon Golf Association and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.
The format was changed in 1966 when the foursome matches were shortened to 18-holes and four-ball competition was added for the first afternoon. Second-day singles, at 18 holes, complete the event, with a total of 20 points available. In 1992, the Senior Hudson Cup matches were added.
