A report from Team USA Captain David Brown:
The first International Hickory Cup was won by team USA today, Oct. 10, 23-21.
The World Team was ahead 12 – 10 after the first day of foursomes and fourballs. Team USA stormed back 13-9 on the second day of singles to win the International cup by 23 – 21 total.
Winners on the singles day who helped USA win were:
Jim Rohr 6/4
Breck speed 2 up
Mark Hollingsworth 3/1
Mike Shiff 5/4
Neil Cowne 1 up
Hamp Munsey 3/2
Ben Hollerbach 3/2
Mike Stevens – halved with Jorgen Isberg
Dave Brown 3/2
Deal Hudson 6/5
Rich Schmidt halved
Matt Dodds 3/2
Joe Hollerbach 1 up
Team USA won nine of the first 12 singles matches to pull into a commanding lead. That’s when the World Team got going. The match was at 21-20, when Matt Dodds closed out his opponent to at least assure a tie. Later, with the entire match at 22 USA – 21 World, Joe Hollerbach got his opponent dormie after 17 assuring a win for the USA. He fought through a last hole tie to win 1 up for the final 23-21 total.
Notables included the dominating wins by Rohr and Hudson. I played with Hudson who just bombed the ball over the 6,400 yard Monifieth Medal course, besting his opponent the entire way. Rohr was on his typical game, missing very few greens on the way to his 6/4 win over my good friend Juergen Mueller. Dodds had a three-hole lead in his deciding match, starting leaking oil, then recovered and sank a 40-footer on No. 16 to close out his match.
I wanted a steady hand in the last group, chose an ultimate competitor in Joe Hollerbach, and was rewarded with the final point to close out the World Team. Thank you, Joe!
All of us had a grand time. The weather held for all but the first part of the first day at the World Hickory Open, which was quite rainy. The first day of the IHC was drizzly at times, then cleared. Day two was flawless, mid-50s and slightly cloudy.
Thanks also to the World Team led by Capt. David Kirkwood. Their spirited play kept the entire match close and exciting for all. A good start to what we hope will be many years of fun and challenging matches.