Texas A&M golfers Chandler Phillips and Maddie Szeryk tee off in the first round of the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup at Evian Resort Golf Club on Friday.
Phillips, a senior on the men’s golf team, tees off at 1:45 a.m. CT alongside United States teammate Lilia Vu of UCLA in a mixed four-ball match against Jovan Rebula (Auburn) and Albane Valenzuela (Stanford) of the International team. In the four-ball format, the team whose player posts the best score on that hole wins the hole.
Szeryk, who completed her eligibility on the women’s golf team in 2018, begins her match at 4 a.m. CT, paired up with Andy Zhang of Florida to represent the International team, taking on the United States’ Lauren Stephenson of Alabama and Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss in an all-SEC foursome.
Phillips is playing in his second Arnold Palmer Cup, after playing in the 2017 edition. He was an All-American in 2017-18, setting the Texas A&M record for single-season stroke average. Szeryk is playing in the event as it includes women for the first time, after a Texas A&M career that included three All-America selections and a school-record 71.61 career stroke average.
The Arnold Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players. The team that wins the most matches over four rounds of play, wins the Arnold Palmer Cup. The 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club will become the only major tournament which features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.
The tournament continues with two rounds of alternate shot matches on Saturday, and finishes with singles matches on Sunday.
