Senior Amateurs win Senior Hudson Cup for eighth time; PGA Professionals win Hudson Cup

For just the eighth time in Senior Hudson Cup history, the Senior Amateurs defeated the Senior PGA Professionals this week in the 26th Senior Hudson Cup, 11 to 9. In the 69th Hudson Cup, the PGA Professionals defeated the Amateurs, 12.5 to 7.5.

Each player competed in three matches during the two-day Ryder Cup-style competition, including a foursome match, a four-ball match, and a singles match.

For complete match-play results, click here for the Hudson Cup results, and here for the Senior Hudson Cup results.

The 69th edition of the Hudson Cup and 26th Senior Hudson Cup were held concurrently October 19-20 at Portland’s Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The illustrious event pitted 10 of the best amateur players from Washington and Oregon against the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA professionals, while the senior edition matched the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA senior members against the top 10 senior amateurs from Washington and Oregon.

In this year’s Hudson Cup, the Amateurs were captained by Mike Kloenne, while the PGA professionals were captained by Bryan Tunstill, the PGA Director of Golf at Columbia Edgewater. In the Senior Hudson Cup, the senior Amateurs were captained by PNGA Hall of Famer Don Krieger, while the senior PGA professionals were captained by PNWPGA Hall of Famer Jerry Mowlds.

The Charles Congdon Award went to Arthur Kim (voted on by the professional team) and the Larry Lamberger Award was presented to John Cassidy (voted on by the amateur team).  In the Senior Matches, The Bill Eggers Award was presented to Erik Hanson (voted on by the senior professional team) while Steve Bowen was bestowed the Bob McKendrick Award (voted on by the senior amateur team).

The Oregon Golf Association (OGA) and Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) work together to select a total of 10 amateurs and 10 senior amateurs to compete against the professionals. Of the 10 players in each category, five represented the OGA and five represented the WSGA. Amateur team members were selected based on season-long performance points earned through each respective Association.

For a complete roster of all this year’s competitors, click here.

The Pacific Northwest Section PGA also selected their professional team members based on performance points earned throughout the season.

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 the Washington State Golf Association, 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.

For more information on the history of the Hudson Cup, including past results, click here.