Second playing of the Concession Cup

The 2016 Concession Cup will be held next week, April 21-23, at The Concession Golf Club. Admission is free and the public is welcome to come see some of the world’s best amateur golfers compete on a beautiful and challenging course designed in honor of one of the game’s great acts of sportsmanship. For those interested in attending, more information can be found on the Concession Cup website.

The 2016 playing of the Concession Cup will see the return of both playing captains. Vinny Giles, an AGA Executive Committee member who is a past Walker Cup captain and four-time Walker Cup player, leads the USA team. Garth McGimpsey, a five-time Walker Cup player, leads the GB&I team. In addition to their Walker Cup experience, both captains have represented their countries in the Eisenhower Trophy and have won national championships. Giles won the 1972 US Amateur, 1975 British Amateur, and the 2009 US Senior Amateur. McGimpsey won the 1985 British Amateur.

The USA team has 12 returning players from the 2014 squad and adds six new players, two mid-amateurs and four seniors. The new players earned their spots through a mix of the automatic selection criteria and as AGA committee selections. Joe Alfieri from Florida earned his spot by being the third highest ranked US mid-amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™. Alfieri’s ranking came from several strong finishes over the past two years, perhaps most notably winning the 2015 Florida Mid-Amateur Stroke Play. Sammy Schmitz got the committee’s attention by winning the 2015 US Mid-Amateur at John’s Island Club, including holing his drive for a hole-in-one on a par four at the 33rd hole of the championship match.

On the senior side, three of the four automatic selections are new players. Brady Exber, Bob Kearney, and Jack Hall were respectively the second, third, and fourth ranked US seniors in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™. All three have played exceptionally well over the past two years, most notably Exber winning the 2014 British Senior Amateur, Kearney winning the 2016 Golfweek National Senior Invitational, and Hall winning the 2015 Canadian Senior Amateur. The final new player for the US team is Bryan Norton whose strong record over the past two years, including finishing runner-up in the 2014 US Senior Amateur and winning both the 2014 and 2015 George L. Coleman Senior Invitational, earned him a committee selection.