The Florida Cup got off to a late start this morning but the South team did not. Despite one of the South team members being involved in a traffic accident on the way to the course and mother nature bringing some lightning to the competition for a brief delay, the South team remained focused in jumping out to a nearly insurmountable lead of 11-5 after day one of the 9th Florida Cup.
In the AM Four-Ball matches, the South captured 5½ points against 2½ for the North. The South team featured a narrow 1 up win by the duo of Ryan Abbate and South Captain TJ Shuart, 2 & 1 wins both by the teams of Ben Adelberg and David Obst and by John Vaccaro and Gary Saft. Partners Don Wolfe and KC Fox added a point with a 2 up win and Howard Logan and Rick Woulfe chipped in with a convincing 4 & 3 victory. Bobby Bird and Chuck Gould added a ½ point by halving a match with Don Bell and Ken Moody of the North to round out the AM scoring for the South.
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.
The afternoon Foursomes matches witnessed a repeat in scoring as the South team once again posted a 5½ total versus 2½ for the North. For the South team, Captain TJ Shuart, David Obst, Howard Logan, Rick Woulfe and John Vaccaro all were two times winners. On the North side, Rob Maddox and Don Whittemore both found the winners circle for the second time. Click here for Thursday's results and Friday's pairings.
Friday's matches feature sixteen single matches beginning at 8:00 AM off split tees at the Quail Valley Country Club in Vero Beach with one point up for grabs in each match. The North team will need to capture 11 of the 16 matches to retain the cup. The South team needs only 5½ points to bring the trophy home.
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. In 2011, North Florida captured the cup for the fifth time compared to three for the South.
The North Florida team includes Don Bell, of Port Orange, the 2012 Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Champion. Don will also serve as the North’s playing captain for the second year in a row. Also representing the North team is Doug Snoap, of Apopka, who advanced to the 2012 US Senior Open Championship held at Indianwood Golf & Country Club, and this year’s Mid-Senior Champion, Ken Moody, of Ponte Vedra Beach.
Other members include, Tory Carli, of Lake Mary, Derek Camps, of Sanford, Kevin Altenhof, of Melbourne, Mike Riley, of Panama City, 2012 US Mid-Amateur qualifier Nikhil DeSai, of Sanford, Rob Maddox, of Lynn Haven, Thad Hudgens, of Longwood and the 2012 Four-Ball Champions Dan Debra, of Lutz and Don Wittemore, of Temple Terrace. Seniors representing the North team include the 2012 Senior Champion AJ Kroeger, of Apopka, and the 2011 Senior Amateur Champion Jim Carley, of Ormond Beach. The other two senior members include Robert Hess, of Casselberry, and Gordon Blakeley, of Lutz.
The South Florida team features the 2012 Public Links Champion TJ Shuart, of Coral Springs. TJ will also serve as the South’s playing captain for the first time. Also representing the South team is the 2005 Amateur Champion Ryan Abbate, of Fort Lauderdale and Matt Avril, of Vero Beach, who also qualified for the 2012 US Senior Open Championship.
The South team also includes 2012 US Mid-Amateur qualifiers Ben Adelberg, from Boynton Beach, and Joseph Latowski, of Port Saint Lucie. Also representing the South team are the Vero Beach trio of Ryan Cobb, Chuck Gould, and Bobby Bird, along with David Obst, of Fort Lauderdale, Frank Babusik, of Jupiter, Donald Wolfe, of Miami, and KC Fox, of Sarasota.
Seniors representing the South team include the 2011 FSGA Senior Player-of-the-Year and the 2007 Senior Champion Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale, the 2012 Senior Amateur Match Play Champion Howard Logan, of Naples, Gary Saft, of Fort Myers, and John Vaccaro, of Sarasota.
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.
