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South Florida Claims the 9th Florida Cup

October 19, 2012

South Florida clenched the Florida Cup on Friday, defeating North Florida by a score of 18 points to 14 points, at Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach. With this win, the South minimizes North Florida’s series lead to 5-4. 

After the morning matches on day one of the Florida Cup Matches, the South held a lead of 5½ points against 2½ for the North.  The North team was paced by Don Whittemore and Derek Camps' early 4 & 2 win and partners Mike Riley and Rob Maddox had the other win for the North with a 3 & 2 victory.

After the same results in the afternoon Foursomes matches, the South team with 5½ point total versus 2½ for the North.  The South team headed in to Friday’s matches with 11 points to North Florida’s 5 points.  

On the final day, the South team slipped slightly, earning only 7 points against the North team’s 9 points.  Trying to make a comeback to retain the cup, the North team fell short.  South Florida’s day one lead had secured them the 9th Florida Cup title.  

Captain TJ Shuart led his team by winning all of his matches for the South Team, defeating Derek Camps 2 and 1 in the individual matches.  Rick Woulfe also continued to go undefeated for the South team winning his singles matches 5 and 4 against Gordon BlakeleyJohn Vaccaro and Don Wolfe both went 2-0-1 contributing to the South team’s success.  Ryan Cobb defeated Dan Debra 1 up, Chuck Gould defeated Rob Maddox 2 and 1, and Joe Latowski defeated Ken Moody, 7 and 5 to contribute to the South’s victory. North team member Don Whittemore was the only team member to go undefeated in all three matches. Singles match winners for the South team included: Doug Snoap, Thad Hudgens, Robert Hess, Nikhil DeSai, AJ Kroeger, Kevin Altenhof, and Don Bell.

The North Florida team includes: Kevin Altenhof, of Melbourne, Don Bell, of Port Orange, Tory Carli, of Lake Mary, Derek Camps, of Sanford, Dan Debra, of Lutz, Nikhil DeSai, of Sanford, Thad Hudgens, of Longwood, Rob Maddox, of Lynn Haven, Ken Moody, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Mike Riley, of Panama City, Doug Snoap, of Apopka and Don Wittemore, of Temple Terrace. Seniors representing the North team include: Jim Carley, of Ormond Beach, Gordon Blakeley, of Lutz, Robert Hess, of Casselberry and AJ Kroeger, of Apopka.

The South Florida team features: Ryan Abbate, of Fort Lauderdale, Ben Adelberg, from Boynton Beach, Matt Avril, of Vero Beach, Frank Babusik, of Jupiter, Bobby Bird, Vero Beach, Ryan Cobb, Vero Beach, KC Fox, of Sarasota, Chuck Gould, Vero Beach, Joseph Latowski, of Port Saint Lucie, David Obst, of Fort Lauderdale, TJ Shuart, of Coral Springs, and Donald Wolfe, of Miami. Seniors representing the South team include: Howard Logan, of Naples, Gary Saft, of Fort Myers, John Vaccaro, of Sarasota and Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale.

Held every two years, the Florida Cup Matches vie 16 of the top amateurs from North Florida versus 16 of the top amateurs from South Florida. Using a Ryder-Cup format, the winner is determined by the number of points earned throughout the two days. Players are invited based on their performance from the previous two seasons. Some automatic selections are based on the FSGA two-year point’s standings. After 2012, South Florida won the Matches 18 - 14 to close North Florida’s series lead to 5-4.