Ben Adelberg/Back of the Range Photo

The West team leads 14 points to 13. During the Saturday foursomes, the East team won the session 5 points to 4, led by the teams of Paul Simson/Scott Harvey and Joe Deraney/Doug Hanzel.

On Sunday, there are 18 singles matches and 18 points available. In the field this week are a combined total of 589 USGA tournament appearances and 23 USGA national titles, according to the East-West Cup.

On the first day, The West won the morning fourball 5.5 points to 3.5 points, and the teams split the foursomes session at 4.5 points, giving the West squad a 10-8 lead. Stewart Hagestad and Mike McCoy set the pace for the west, winning their morning fourball match 5 and 4. 

Hagestad is ranked No. 4 in the AmateurGolf.com Mid-Amateur Rankings, and McCoy is ranked No. 19 in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings.

Brad Nurski/Brian Blanchard, Gene Elliot/Dan Sullivan, and Parker Edens/Chris Wheeler also earned full points for the West team in the morning.

Brady Exber, a member of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame, the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, and the National Senior Amateur Hall of Fame, is the West captain. Nathan Smith, a five-time USGA champion, is the East captain. Smith is also the captain of the 2025 Walker Cup team.

RELATED ARTICLES
LIVE SCORING: 2024 East West Cup Matches
Nathan Smith and Brady Exber to serve as 2024 East West Cup Matches

“The matches are tight and very competitive," West captain Brady Exber said. "Everybody plays every session, so they have all played a number of matches this week. The players and teams are getting familiar with each other. It is getting a little chippy, but that is fun, and that is good."

Exber added, "I expect my guys to play really well in the singles. They worked hard for two years to get on the team. They are not going to back down. I expect them to play hard.”

“It is a toss up going tomorrow," East captain Nathan Smith said. "Whichever team plays better will win. It's exciting, and there are 18 points out there tomorrow. It is an incredible event, and it is made for a lot of drama during the final round."

Smith added, “We had a good session today (Saturday foursomes). We felt good about how we played. It was great to get some little bit of momentum going into tomorrow.”

The East West Matches started in 2020 and are played every two years. The three-day amateur golf competition features a Ryder Cup-style team format for American amateur, mid-amateur, and senior competitors. The competition is currently tied 1-1.

The competition's vision is “promoting the amateur game by bringing the best amateurs in the United States together for highly competitive matches and camaraderie in its purest form.”

The Mississippi River divides the East and West teams. In 2024, the teams comprised 18 players: six seniors and 12 mid-amateurs. After two college players were on the teams in 2020 and 2022, there are no college players now.

Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, is the bi-annual host. 

The East West Cup contributed to this report