Ois Keniry
In the third repetition of Cup of Bridgesthe elite intermediate amateur team from the United States barely held on in the final session to best the internationals, 17-15, at Haesley Nine Bridges in South Korea. The victory represents the third in a row in this competition for the Americans.
The Bridges Cup is a partnership between South Korean conglomerate CJ Group and 8AM Golf that involves two teams in a Ryder Cup-style competition over three days. The first iteration was held at Nine Bridges owned by CJ (No. 87 in the GOLF World Ranking), on Jeju Island in 2022. The following year, the competition moved to Les Bordes (No. 83) in France.
Each team is hand-picked by their captains and is comprised of top-level amateur players with resumes that include USGA championships and major tournament experience. All that talent was on display in Haesley.
of 12-man US team came out firing in the opening session on Monday, posting a 5-1 lead in the four-ball games. But the internationals bounced back in the three-day competition to get within two points to start Wednesday’s singles session and, with 12 points up for grabs, it really was anyone’s tournament. Early on, it appeared the international was riding that momentum for a possible comeback.
“After nine holes it really looked like the Internationals might have had a chance to crack it,” said Simon Holmes, a golf professional and Bridges Cup commentator.
Matthew McClean, Hugh Foley and Lukas Michel won the morning’s matches, but American Drew Kittleson finally put the Reds on the board with a 2-and-1 win over Jacob Austin.
The pieces then began to fall into place for the U.S. They took five of the last eight games as Scott Anderson, Andrew Medley and Drew Stoltz all won 5 and 4.
“We never thought it was ever lost,” international captain Simon Holt said. “We rallied like crazy but, in the end, we just ran out of holes.” Added Holmes, “The way they battled, the intensity of the competition, the amount of stress that was created for the players and of course the captains, it just shows that the Bridges Cup, the combination of 8am and CJ and this concept of team golf in the middle of breakfast, it’s an absolute winner.”