Palmer Cup: Top collegians battle for U.S.
6/5/2013 | by Golfweek
see also: Arnold Palmer Cup Matches, Tralee Golf Club
Cal and Alabama will both have 3 players on the roster when play begins Friday
No. 1 Cal and second-ranked Alabama will be well-represented at this year’s Palmer Cup on June 7-9 at Wilmington (Del.) Country Club. Both teams will have three players in the trans-contintental matches between collegians from the United States and Europe.
Alabama’s Cory Whitsett, Bobby Wyatt and Justin Thomas will play for the United States team along with Cal’s Michael Kim and Michael Weaver. Cal’s Joel Stalter will compete for Europe.
North Florida and UCLA also have multiple participants.
North Florida, No. 18 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, will have one player on each team. Sean Dale, the nation’s second-ranked player, will represent the United States, while Ireland’s Kevin Phelan will play for Europe. No. 5 UCLA has two players on Europe’s team, Pontus Widegren and Pedro Figueiredo.
There are also two Division II players in this year’s event: Abilene Christian’s Alex Carpenter, who will represent the United States, and Nova Southeastern’s Ben Taylor, who will play for Europe. Carpenter played in the 2011 Palmer Cup and was Division II’s player of the year in 2011. Taylor is the 2012 Division II player of the year.
Kim, Dale, Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers, New Mexico’s James Erkenbeck, Weaver and Whitsett were the United States team’s six automatic qualifiers. Thomas, Florida State’s Daniel Berger and Carpenter were the three committee selections, while Wyatt was the lone captain’s selection of Palmer Cup captain Jay Seawell, who also is the head coach at Alabama.
TCU’s Julien Brun, Iowa State’s Scott Fernandez, Figueiredo, Central Florida’s Greg Eason, Widegren and California’s Joel Stalter were Europe’s six automatic qualifiers. Phelan and Taylor were the two committee selections, while Gary Hurley, winner of the R&A Foundation Scholar's Tournament, earned the team’s ninth spot. Arkansas’ Sebastian Cappelen, who won the SEC Championship on Sunday, earned the captain’s selection of European captain Andrew Coltart, a former Ryder Cup player.
Carpenter (2011), Rodgers (2012) and Thomas (2012) have each previously represented the United States in the Palmer Cup. Widegren will become just the fourth golfer to play in four Palmer Cups while European teammates Cappelen and Brun are competing in their third and second, respectively. Figueiredo is the first player from Portugal to play in the event while Dale, Phelan, Eason and Fernandez are the first golfers from their schools selected.
About the Palmer Cup
The annual Ryder Cup-style competition features top men and women collegiate players from the United States against their International counterparts. Each team will be comprised of 12 men's and 12 women's golfers. Day one will feature Mixed Four-Ball...
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