The 73rd running of the Hudson Cup and 30th running of the Senior Hudson Cup will be held this this week, October 14-15 at Oswego Lake Country Club in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Played in a format similar to the Ryder Cup, the Hudson Cup pits 10 of the best amateur players from Washington and Oregon against the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA professionals. The Senior Hudson Cup, matches the top 10 Pacific Northwest Section PGA senior members against the top 10 senior amateurs from Washington and Oregon.
The Oregon Golf Association (OGA) and Washington Golf (WA Golf) work together to select a total of 10 amateurs and 10 senior amateurs to compete against the professionals. Of the 10 players in each category, five will represent the OGA and five will represent WA Golf. Amateur team members are selected based on season-long performance points earned through each respective Association.
The Pacific Northwest Section PGA also selects their professional team members based on performance points earned throughout the season.
Each player will compete in three matches, a foursome match, a four-ball match and a singles match. Upon completion of the matches, awards are presented to the outstanding player on each team as decided by votes of the opposite team. The awards honor Chuck Congdon, Larry Lamberger, Bob McKendrick and Bill Eggers, four great players with outstanding Hudson Cup records and a strong tie to the event’s rich history.
Professional team captains are appointed by the president of the Pacific Northwest Section PGA, and amateur team captains are appointed by the OGA and WA Golf.
This year, the Amateurs in the Hudson Cup will be captained by Jay Poletiek of Oregon; and the PGA Professionals will be captained by Bryan Tunstill, PGA from Columbia Edgewater Country Club. In the Senior Hudson Cup, the senior Amateurs will be captained by Denny Taylor of Oregon; while the senior PGA Professionals will be captained by Brent Murray, PGA from Oswego Lake Country Club.
History of the Hudson Cup
In 1949, two PGA Professionals from Oregon, Larry Lamberger and Al Zimmerman, thought the Pacific Northwest Section PGA should pay tribute to Robert A. Hudson, Sr., a successful businessman from Portland. Hudson is renowned in the golf world as the savior of the Ryder Cup matches after resurrecting it just two years removed from World War II. Because of Hudson’s generosity, the Ryder Cup was restored in 1947 at Portland Golf Club after Hudson came forward and covered most of the expenses of conducting the competition, including the cost of transporting the British team to the United States.
The first Hudson Cup matches were held at Portland Golf Club in 1949. The format was patterned after the Ryder Cup, with 36-hole foursome matches the first day and 36-hole singles the second day. The professionals, led by Bud Ward, Stan Leonard and Chuck Congdon, posted a 12.5 to 2.5 victory. When Hudson learned of the matches, he immediately insisted on footing the bill, and continued to do so through 1972. Today, the Pacific Northwest Section PGA is assisted by funds contributed by Washington Golf, the Oregon Golf Association and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.
The format was changed in 1966 when the foursome matches were shortened to 18-holes and four-ball competition was added for the first afternoon. Second-day singles, at 18 holes, complete the event, with a total of 20 points available. In 1992, the Senior Hudson Cup matches were added.
