29th Annual Palmetto Cup Matches
Orangeburg Country Club
Orangeburg, SC
October 24-25, 2010

Amateurs Hold on to Win Palmetto Cup

For the seventh year in a row, the Amateur golfers of South Carolina managed to defeat the SCPGA Professionals in the Palmetto Cup Matches. The final score for the 29th version of the Matches played at Orangeburg Country Club was 15-12.

After the first round of the SCGA-SCPGA Palmetto Cup Matches, the Amateurs held a slim one point lead heading into the final round of singles play. Playing a select drive alternate shot format, the Amateurs lost four of the first six matches of the day before rallying to win the final three. The final point for the SCGA team came from Steve Liebler and Brent Roof who came from behind to win 1 up on the 18th hole.

On the final day playing 18 individual matches between the two teams, the Amateurs managed to squeak out a 10-8 margin of victory for the day. For the SCPGA, Rivers Johnson from Sweetwater Country Club and Michael Smith from Daniel Island led the way winning both of their matches over the two days. For the SCGA there were five players that managed to pull both of their points - Brent Roof, Chris Mitchell, Andrew Hewitt, Todd Hendley and Jon Mathias. Both Mathias and Hewitt were rookies to the Palmetto Cup Matches.

The annual battle between the state's top amateur golfers and the top SC PGA Chapter Pros, the Palmetto Cup Matches are in their 29th year of existence. The 2010 event was contested at the recently renovated Orangeburg Country Club. The series now stands at 14-13-1 in favor of the South Carolina Golf Association. In 1997, the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather.