The 74th edition of the Hudson Cup Matches took place at Tacoma Country & Golf Club on October 20-21. This event pairs the top 10 PNW PGA Professionals against the top 10 Pacific Northwest amateurs in matches patterned after the Ryder Cup. The 31st Senior Hudson Cup Matches were held concurrently, where the top 10 PNW PGA senior Professionals compete against the top 10 Pacific Northwest senior amateurs. The teams were selected based on their competitive records throughout the 2022 season and represent the very best of Northwest golf.
The Professionals won the 74th Hudson Cup Matches with a two-day point total of 13 ½ to 6 ½ points. In the 31st edition of the Senior Hudson Cup, the Professionals won the Matches with a two-day point total of 10 ½ to 9 ½.
CLICK HERE to view 74th Hudson Cup Match Results.
CLICK HERE to view 31st Senior Hudson Cup Match Results.
In the 74th edition of the Hudson Cup Matches, the Charles Congdon Award went to Paul Mitzel (voted on by the professional team) and the Larry Lamberger Award was presented to Ryan Benzel (voted on by the amateur team).
In the 31st Senior Hudson Cup Matches, The Bill Eggers Award was presented to Greg Chianello (voted on by the senior professional team) while Jeff Gove was bestowed the Bob McKendrick Award (voted on by the senior amateur team). Four players were undefeated in all of the matches this year: Jeff Gove, Tony Robydek, Brad Karns and Greg Chianello.
History of the Hudson Cup
Robert A. Hudson was a very successful Portland businessman whose firm, Hudson House, was one of the nation’s leading wholesale grocers. Hudson played golf at Portland Golf Club and was devoted to the game. During World War II, the PGA of America was trying to keep its Tour alive and was in dire need of sponsors. Hudson stepped up to the plate with the urging of Larry Lamberger, Portland Golf Club head professional, and offered to underwrite a 72-hole open tournament with a purse of $10,000. Thus the 1944 Portland Open was born, and Sam Snead won it. Hudson stayed with the program and went on to sponsor the 1945 Portland Open (in which Ben Hogan set the 72-par 72-hole scoring record of 27-under-par 261) and the 1946 PGA Championship, won by Hogan. Hudson went on to sponsor Portland Opens in 1948 and 1949 and the Western Open in 1955, all at Portland Golf Club, and he became the first chairman of the PGA Advisory Committee.
Each player will play three matches, a Foursome match, Four-Ball Match, and a Singles Match. At the completion of the matches, awards are presented to the outstanding player on each team as decided by votes of the team members. They honor Chuck Congdon, Larry Lamberger, Bob McKendrick and Bill Eggers, four great players with outstanding Hudson Cup records.
The Professionals have won 59 of the 74 matches against the amateurs, losing only 8 and tying 7 matches. The Professionals last lost in 2016 at Fircrest GC.
While the Professionals have been dominating the Hudson Cup Matches, the Senior professionals have also been winning the Senior Hudson Cup Matches. The Senior Professionals have won 21 of 31 Matches in the 31-year history, tying once.
Tacoma Country & Golf Club
Tacoma Golf Club was founded in 1894 when a group of a dozen Scotsmen and Englishmen, many of them employees of the London based firm of Balfour, Guthrie, & Co., sought to play the game they left behind in their homelands. The group was led by Alexander Baillie, an indomitable Scotsman who would pioneer golf in the Pacific Northwest. By 1900 Tacoma Golf Club had grown to 180 members and it became apparent that a new location and a larger clubhouse were needed to accommodate the growing membership. On October 18, 1904, the club acquired the seven-acre Lehman estate plus 160 acres of surrounding property on the eastern shore of American Lake, its current location. At the time, this location was a popular destination, operating as the Tacoma Country Club, for sunbathers, swimmers and other non-golf activities. On January 21, 1905, the two clubs merged to become the Tacoma Country and Golf Club. The new clubhouse opened on June 25, 1905. Sadly, the clubhouse burned down in 1909. A new clubhouse “The Grand Old Lady” was built in 1910, but in 1961 it too would suffer the same fate as its predecessor.
In 2013, the club began the process of restoring many of its bunkers to the look and feel of the bygone era, with their furry edges and deeper faces. Today Tacoma Country and Golf Club is considered by many to be one of the best conditioned and most challenging golf courses in the Northwest.