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The Challenge Cup first started out as the Governor’s Cup thus the name on the home trophy you see here. the Governor’s Cup which began in 1965 pits the top twenty amateur golfers in the Section against the top twenty PGA golf professionals in a Ryder Cup like format. The event begins with a modified foursome on the first nine holes and a four-ball format on the second nine holes. The afternoon matches are singles matches. The scoring is match play with the front nine winner winning a point as does the back nine winner and the overall eighteen-hole winner. If the Matches are tied after the nines and eighteen holes each side wins a half point.
Traditionally, the Professionals have trailed following the morning matches only to storm back to win the afternoon matches and the Cup. In 2008, tradition held true, but it was mother nature who joined the professionals with a valiant come from behind victory. After the morning matches, the Professionals were down 17 -13. Early in the afternoon singles matches, the Professionals came charging out of the gates to quickly regain the lead. With only a few matches left on the course, the thunderstorms quickly moved in, late in the day, canceling play for the day. Since every singles match had gone through the ninth hole, the Professionals were declared winners by a 27-23 margin, thus completing their come back and reclaiming the cup for the Sun Country PGA.
Currently, the PGA professionals have won the Cup 28 times while the Amateurs have won it 16 times. The longest winning streak is by the PGA professionals who won the Cup seven times in a row from 1966-1972. The amateur team won the Cup six consecutive times from 1973 to 1978. The Challenge Cup is held every year in august in various locations around the Section.
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