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Team USA Wins Rider Cup Golf Tourney

Photo from Fran Rehm

Participants in the second annual Little Manatee Springs Rider Cup gather before play begins. The event pitted a team of American players against a team of international players, primarily from the United Kingdom and Canada.

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By JOHN CEBALLOS

jceballos@tampatrib.com

Published: March 4, 2009

WIMAUMA - It was the United States against the rest of the world.

At least that was the case during a recent two-day golf outing in South Shore.

Twenty-six players represented Team U.S.A. in competition against 18 international players - primarily from the United Kingdom and Canada - in the second annual Little Manatee Springs Rider Cup.

Little Manatee residents Fran Rehm and Mary Herd were the captains for the American and international squads. At stake were the Rider Cup trophy and bragging rights for the rest of the year.

"We call it the 'Rider Cup' because we don't want to infringe on any copyrights of the actual Ryder Cup," said Rehm, referring to the PGA event that pits American players against a team of golfers from Europe. "Another reason is that a majority of our players ride around on golf carts most of the time."

Little Manatee Springs is a manufactured home park for residents ages 55 and older. The competition took place on the community's Gator Gulch Golf Course.

The two-day event began Feb. 19 with morning and afternoon stroke play sessions.

In stroke play, golfers accumulate strokes over the course of 18 holes. The golfer with the fewest strokes at the completion of the round wins.

The next day, the teams faced off in match play. In match play, each hole is a separate competition. The player with the fewest strokes on an individual hole wins that hole. The player winning the most holes wins the match.

In the end, Team U.S.A. triumphed 241/2 to 151/2.

"We ended up having to get a few ringers from Sun City Center because the international team was short a few players," Rehm said. "It was still a really good event."

The Rider Cup was capped by a Friday evening party at the Little Manatee Springs clubhouse, where Herd presented the trophy to Rehm.

"The hope is to continue to have this competition, but we hope to have even more international players available in future years," Rehm said.

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