In what turned out to be a thrilling final session, the U.S. team of elite mid-amateurs held onto its lead to defeat the International squad, 17-15, to win its third straight Bridges Cup.
The 12-man American team came out firing in the opening session Monday at Haesley Nine Bridges in South Korea, but the Internationals clawed back in the three-day competition to get within two points to begin Wednesday’s singles session.
But with 12 points up for grabs, it was truly anyone’s game. And early on in Wednesday’s matches, it seemed the International squad was riding that momentum for a potential comeback.
“After nine holes, it really looked as though the Internationals could have had a chance to squeak it,” said Simon Holmes, a golf professional and Bridges Cup commentator on-site this week.
The Internationals — behind a strong opening trio of Matthew McClean, Hugh Foley and Lukas Michel — won tightly contested matches early, but the U.S.’s Drew Kittleson finally put red on the board with a 2-and-1 win over Jacob Austin.
The pieces then started falling into place for the Americans.
They took five of the last eight matches — Scott Anderson, Andrew Medley and Drew Stoltz all won their matches 5 and 4 — to remain undefeated in the three playings of the Bridges Cup.
“The Internationals arrived with no real sparkle, and they didn’t perform early, and they were behind so many points that they thought the game was lost,” Holmes said. “But the way they fought back, the intensity of the competition, the amount of stress that was created today for the players and certainly the captains, just goes to show that the Bridges Cup, the combination of 8AM and CJ, and this concept of mid-am team golf is an absolute winner.”
Even after the U.S. clinched the 16 points needed to retain the cup, Joseph Deraney, who was 2 down after nine holes in the anchor match against Angus Carrick, won three holes on the back nine, including the 18th with a long birdie putt, to clinch a 1-up victory and the outright win for the U.S. The singles session ended as a 6-6 split between the two teams.
For full results from the 2024 Bridges Cup, click here. Below are the complete results from the singles session on Day 3.
DAY 3 SINGLES RESULTS:
FINAL RESULT:
Jack Hirsh is the associate equipment editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.
The outcome of the third annual Bridges Cup will culminate in a singles showdown on Wednesday, as the U.S. team of 12 mid-amateurs holds a narrow 10-8 advantage over their International counterparts.
At Haesley Nine Bridges in Korea, a dominant performance in the opening four-ball matches on Monday gave the Americans an early 5-1 lead. The International squad fired back in the afternoon, winning three of four foursomes matches for a total Day 1 score of 6-4 to the Americans.
On Tuesday, 10 more points were up for grabs, with six four-ball matches in the morning and four foursomes matches in the afternoon.
The sides split the morning fourball sessions, 3-3; in the afternoon foursomes only two matches were completed, with each side winning one, before darkness suspended play. The still-to-be-finished matches are Match 1, which the Internationals are 1 up with one hole remaining, and Match 3, in which the Americans are 1 up with three holes to play.
Those matches will be finished ahead of the singles session on Wednesday, and will be extremely consequential to the outcome of the Bridges Cup. The International team is seeking its first victory in the event after falling to the Americans in 2022 and 2023.
“The International team was way more boosted by the success they had in that second session on Monday,” said Simon Holmes, a golf professional and Bridges Cup commentator who is onsite this week in Korea. “So that was kind of like a catalyst moment for them, maybe to have a bit more belief, show up, back themselves a bit more. So it was a bit of an emotional change more than a technical change or suddenly playing better golf. I think they just felt like they belonged a bit more, and they were more comfortable to show themselves.”
The Internationals were anchored on Tuesday by standout performances courtesy of an Irish duo: Hugh Foley and Matthew McClean, won their four-ball and foursomes matches 5 and 4, and 5 and 3, respectively.
“You could just tell they’re so comfortable in that format that it was it wasn’t even like a blip for them,” Holmes said of Foley and McClean. “They moved into it so smoothly.”
Americans Taylor Wood and Scott Anderson delivered the foursomes session’s most dominant performance, posting a 7-and-6 victory over the International side’s Harry Bolton and Darragh Coghlan.
Day 3 of the Bridges Cup will feature the remaining foursomes matches and 12 singles matches. With 30 total points up for grabs over the three days of competition, the U.S. needs 15 points to retain the Cup, while the Internationals need 15.5 points to claim it.
For full results and live scoring from the 2024 Bridges Cup, click here. Below are the complete results from the four-ball and foursomes sessions from Day 2.
DAY 2 FOURBALL RESULTS:
Jessica Marksbury
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.
Through the first of three days of play at the 2024 Bridges Cup, the U.S.’s team of 12 elite mid-amateurs finds itself in a familiar position: atop the leaderboard, with a 6-4 advantage over the International side.
With 10 matches — and 10 points — up for grabs at Haesley Nine Bridges in Korea on the opening day, the Americans, who prevailed in the first two editions of the event, won five of six of matches in the morning fourball sessions before the Internationals charged back in the afternoon foursomes sessions, winning three of four available points.
Lukas Michel and Jacob Austin of the Internationals won the opening match in the morning fourballs, but the U.S. dominated the rest of the session. All five of the remaining matches went the way of the Americans, with each being closed out before the 18th hole. By the time the teams adjourned for lunch, the U.S. held a commanding 5-1 lead.
“Team USA definitely had more strut this morning,” said Simon Holmes, a golf professional and Bridges Cup commentator who is onsite this week in Korea. “They just sprinted ahead and won their matches convincingly.”
In much the same fashion as the Internationals at last month’s Presidents Cup, this team of International showed plenty of pluck in the second session. After a pep talk from captain Simon Holt, they returned for the afternoon foursomes session with a renewed sense of urgency.
“We’ve really kind of thrown the kitchen sink at it,” Holt said. “But we’ve got a team full of leaders and four pairs who are playing well with each other … All we can [do] is see what happens this afternoon.”
Once again, the team of Michel and Austin came out in the first match of the session and blitzed their opponents, winning 4 and 3. But this time, the rest of the team capitalized on the positive momentum as the Internationals won three of the four afternoon matches to pull within two points of the U.S. by day’s end.
“The Internationals had a good pep talk and showed some grit in the afternoon,” Holmes said. “Team USA was super comfortable with the fast start, but the Internationals showed their talent by the end of the day.”
Dat 2 of the Bridges Cup will feature six fourball matches, followed by 12 singles matches on Day 3. With 30 points up for grabs, the U.S. needs 15 points to retain the Cup, while the Internationals need 15.5 points to claim it.
For full results and live scoring from the 2024 Bridges Cup, click here. Below are the complete results from the first two sessions:
DAY 1 FOURBALL RESULTS:
DAY 1 FOURSOMES RESULTS:
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.
The 2024 Bridges Cup is about to get underway in South Korea, with elite mid-amateur golfers teeing it up at Haesley Nine Bridges.
While the U.S. team has won the first two installments of the Ryder Cup-style tournament, could the Internationals swing things in their favor this year? We’ll have to see which players step up during the most nerve-wracking moments.
Because the pressure often peaks on the most challenging holes, we tapped an expert on Haesley Nine Bridges, Simon Holmes, to explain the three most crucial holes at this year’s competition.
These course-management tips might help you playing any golf course, but if you ever happen to find yourself playing Haesley Nine Bridges, they’ll definitely come in handy.
“I just think [Haesley] is a great venue for this kind of elite match play,” Holmes says. “If you’ve got stroke play, you can kind of shelter it, because you can play the layup. But in match play, if your opponent hits a great shot, then you’ve got to stand up and match it. So if you’re not in form or aren’t ready to go, we’re going to immediately see that and you’re going to lose a point.”
“What’s interesting about these kind of match-play events is that it’s basically golf’s version of the 100 meters,” Holmes says, comparing it to a sprint. “The first six holes are the most important, with stats from the Ryder Cup showing that. If you’re up after six holes, you win nearly 67 percent of the time.”
Which three holes will be the most critical at this year’s Bridges Cup? Holmes lists his choices below.
“No. 15 is, man, it’s just tough,” Holmes says. “It plays across a hill. I suppose you could get greedy and try to get up there [off the tee], but a lot of guys are going to leave themselves about 140 yards in [instead of risking it with the driver]. But the guy who goes for it is going to have an advantage, no doubt.”
The Bridges Cup, an elite mid-amateur event which features 24 players from the U.S. and the rest of the world in a Ryder-Cup style match-play competition, is back in South Korea for its third iteration.
Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about the 2024 Bridges Cup.
The Bridges Cup is a celebration of competition and camaraderie at the amateur level, featuring three days of Ryder Cup-style match play competition between players from the United States and the rest of the world. The event was conceived and founded by CJ Corp, in partnership with 8AM Golf, as a means of elevating the amateur game. The event is designed to replicate the feel of a high-end professional tournament, where no expense is spared to host the competitors.
The 24 players competing in the Bridges Cup are hand-picked by their respective team captains. Qualifying criteria includes the player’s Handicap Index, history of tournament play, reputation on and off the course and quality of affiliated clubs. Check out the 2024 U.S. and International team rosters here.
Jeff Fujimoto, 8AM Golf’s chief business development officer, leads Team USA, while Simon Holt, 8AM Golf’s new luxury travel business operator, is heading up the Internationals. The American side will also be bolstered by vice captains Kevin Turner, former COO of Microsoft, and all-time Olympic medal winner Michael Phelps. Joshua Adams will assist Holt as vice captain of the Internationals.
The venue changes each year. After visits to South Korea’s Nine Bridgesin 2022 and France’s Les Bordes in 2023, the 2024 Bridges Cup is back in South Korea at acclaimed Haesley, a course located southeast of Seoul. Going forward, Nine Bridges and Haesley will alternate hosting the Cup in even-numbered years.
The three-day event features six four-ball and six foursomes matches on Day 1, six four-ball matches on Day 2 and 12 singles matches on Day 3. With 30 points up for grabs, the Americans need 15 points to retain the Cup, and the Internationals need 15.5 points to claim it.
The 2024 Bridges Cup will be played Monday, Oct. 14 to Wednesday, Oct. 16.
The Americans won the first two editions of the Bridges Cup by scores of 64-41 (2022) and 19-11 (2023).
Live scoring updates and information can be found here.
Jessica Marksbury
As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.
Where in the world is Lukas Michel?
When we get each other on the phone, he’s calling from tomorrow, actually, near the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. It’s early morning there but he’s up and at it because it’s Day 2 of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, one of the biggest amateur events in the world, with spots in the Masters and Open Championship on the line.
He shot 71 on Day 1 and was just slightly annoyed about it, having been under par early in the round. But that’s in the past, and the immediate future might be more annoying. Storms are ripping through the Shizuoka area, delaying the second round of the event. All of which means the golf game is put aside for now, and the laptop comes out.
Michel, who famously won the U.S. Mid-Am back in 2019, earning a bid into the fall Masters and 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, spends a lot of time on his laptop these days, because his day job requires it. Michel is now a design associate at Clayton, Devries & Pont, an increasingly popular international golf course design firm, perusing CAD drawings of bunker shapes and green layouts. What started as an 8-week gig in 2020 has grown into a much bigger role every year since.
“[I’m] at least 75% designer now, whereas in 2019 it would have been 100% player,” Michel says.
That scale may lean in the design direction these days for Michel, now 30, and likely every day moving forward, perpetuating the truism that those who work in the golf industry play the sport less than those who don’t. But if there’s anything to be learned by his recent schedule, there’s still plenty of room for both in his life. Have Clubs, Will Travel is a great motto not only for elite amateurs, but also for enterprising course architects.
Before the Asia-Pacific Am — which he qualified for as one of the top seven players from Australia — Michel was in the New York area competing in The Farrell, a high-end amateur comp held at Stanwich Club in Connecticut. Before that came the Mid-Am at Kinloch Golf Club in Virginia, the biggest event on his annual calendar, for which he is qualified through 2029. Michel took a spin through the U.K. this summer, wearing mostly a designer hat, reacquainting himself with the game’s origins, and will soon flash his passport in Korea en route to the Bridges Cup, a 24-player team event for elite amateurs. (GOLF’s holding company, 8AM Golf, hosts the event annually.)
When that comes to a close Michel will head back to his home base in Melbourne, Australia, where summer is just beginning and a majority of his design projects are underway. He is a walking reminder that in this sport, it’s plausible to find sunny and 75 degrees every single month. You just have to find the gig that supports annual playing/scouting trips to America and Europe … and hold on tight. Which is why he staved off sleep on his first jet-lagged night in Japan to log a few hours of computer work.
“It’s funny because when I pull out a laptop and start working, it keeps me awake,” he says. “It’s not the sort of work that’s putting me to sleep. It’s actually getting my brain working and it’s keeping me engaged, and I really do enjoy it … A lot of people can’t say the same thing about the work they do, so I think I’m very lucky in that regard.”
The computer work is one thing, but when Michel tells the story about requesting an early tee time at the Sandbelt Invitational so he could drive three hours to make a site-visit, only to drive back that night and play the next round in the morning, you start to realize what sits atop his priority list: his future, as a high-minded, high performing amateur golfer more focused on making great golf courses for you, me and everyone else who dreams about playing the game like he can.
So I ask the natural question: how does one do it? How can you remain one of the best amateur golfers in the world and sprout the roots of a very busy, very international architecture career?
The answer: you get comfortable being uncomfortable.
“You know, I’ve played a lot more golf with that sensation and actually had some good performances despite it,” Michel says. “And then realized, ‘Wait a minute. Yes, I like to be super over-prepared for things, but you can still play well without that.’ Golf is such a mental thing. Once you can prove to yourself you can it with maybe being a little bit underprepared, I think it gives you more confidence going forward.”
Sean Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just published his first book, which follows his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.
