The 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup teams have been officially announced with Maynooth University’s David Kitt to fly the flag for Ireland at the prestigious event set for Golf Club de Genève from July 1-3.
The Athenry man earns his Palmer Cup debut courtesy of winning the R&A Student Series Order of Merit, with one victory on the books at the season opening event at Fairmont St. Andrews.
“To play with the best in the world against the top Americans is incredible,” Kitt said after winning the season-long points race.
“I can’t thank The R&A enough for this series. It’s a great initiative; it’s well organised, extremely professional, and we play great courses against good players. I speak on behalf of everyone when I say thanks for giving us this incredible opportunity to develop our games.”
Kitt will add to Maynooth’s rich history at the Palmer Cup, joining twice capped Gary Hurley and Stuart Grehan, plus Ronan Mullarney, Caolan Rafferty and Allan Hill in lining out amongst the world’s best college golfers.
“We’re absolutely delighted for David,” said Barry Fennelly, Golf Programme Manager at Maynooth, who’ll also serve as an Assistant Coach to the international team at this summer’s tournament.
“It’s going to be a big step up for him but he’s earned the right to play and I have no doubt that he’ll do well.
“David is the sixth Maynooth player to earn selection and it’s exciting for Maynooth as a whole to have a player on the team, and myself involved as an Assistant Coach. It’s going to be a very cool experience.”
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players.
The top six golfers from the final Palmer Cup Ranking from both the United States and International men and women are among the individuals selected to compete. International team ranking qualifiers included Alexandra Forsterling (Arizona State; Germany), Natasha Andrea Oon (San Jose State; Malaysia), Hannah Darling (South Carolina; Scotland), Aline Krauter (Stanford; Germany), Ashley Lau (Michigan; Malaysia), and Carolina Chacarra (Wake Forest; Spain) for the women and Fred Biondi (Florida; Brazil), Ludvig Åberg (Texas Tech; Sweden), Eugenio Chacarra (Oklahoma State; Spain), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois; Belgium), Albin Bergstrom (USF; Sweden), and Frederik Kjettrup (Florida State; Denmark) for the men.
International Team Committee selections were Archie Davies (East Tennessee State; Wales), Mateo Fernández de Oliveira (Arkansas; Argentina), Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech; South Africa), Julia Lopez Ramirez (Mississippi State; Spain), Hsin-Yu Lu (Oregon; Taiwan), Benedetta Moresco (Alabama; Italy), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Oklahoma State; Denmark), and Amelia Williamson (Florida State; England).
David Kitt (Maynooth; Ireland) and Lorna McClymont (Stirling; Scotland) were the representatives from The R&A Student Tour Series.
International Team Head Coach Phil Rowe selected James Leow (Arizona State; Singapore) for his coach’s pick and Head Coach Diana Cantú selected Kajsa Arwefjäll (San Jose State; Sweden).
United States team ranking qualifiers included Rose Zhang (Stanford), Amari Avery (Southern California), Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest), Gurleen Kaur (Baylor), Calynne Rosholt (Arizona State), and Antonia Malate (San Jose State) for the women and Sam Bennett (Texas A&M), Cole Sherwood (Vanderbilt), Johnny Keefer (Baylor), Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt), Travis Vick (Texas), and Walker Lee (Texas A&M) for the men.
United States Team Committee selections were Michael Brennan (Wake Forest), Rachel Heck (Stanford), Palmer Jackson (Notre Dame), Dylan Menante (Pepperdine), Brooke Seay (Stanford), Erica Shepherd (Duke), Latanna Stone (LSU), and Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford). Jake Doggett (Midwestern State) and Olivia Mitchell (Dallas Baptist) were the non-Division I selections.
Head Coaches Kory Henkes and Jim Ott selected Julia Johnson (Ole Miss) and Nick Gabrelcik (North Florida) as their coach’s picks, respectively. Biondi will be the first Palmer Cup participant from Brazil, Fernández de Oliveira the first Argentinian, and Leow the first from Singapore.
First participants from their schools include Arwefjäll, Malate, and Oon (San Jose State), Bergstrom (USF), Doggett (Midwestern State), and Jackson (Notre Dame). Returners to the International team are Åberg (2020), Chacarra (2021), Dumont de Chassart (2021), and McClymont (2019). Johnson, Kuehn, and Stone will compete in their third Palmer Cup, while Bennett, Gabrelcik, Menante, and Shepherd return from the 2021 United States squad.
Since its inception, over 125 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, European, or LPGA Tours; 32 have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or Solheim Cup and more than 65 have claimed over 285 victories on the PGA, European, or LPGA Tours, including three major champions in both 2020 and 2021. The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 13-11-1.
- For more information, visit arnoldpalmercup.com
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