Thursday, August 26, 2010

Welcome to the Online Home of The Kiva Cup

Welcome to the exclusive online home of The Kiva Cup, the premier event* in amateur coastal golf.

The Kiva Cup takes place every year at the lovely and challenging Kiva Dunes Golf Club in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Jerry Pate course opened in 1995 along one of the finest roads in America, Fort Morgan Road, and annually ranks among the top golf courses in America by several golf publications.

No one is quite certain how many actual Kiva Cup competitions have been played. The Kiva Cup extends back to at least the 2005 Alabama-LSU game, as Chris and Jammy were the only two in the house that noticed this happening live. Actual cup play may have started a year or two prior in smaller, less organized format.

To even the casual golf fan, Kiva Cup format is relatively simple to understand. Sixteen individuals compete on two teams of eight, Team Europe and Team USA. Similar to Ryder Cup play, the teams compete in three different formats over the course of three days. The formats are better ball (2 rounds), alternate shot, and singles.  Each player is expected to have an official handicap, and every player gets their strokes (no stroke differentials are used in cup play).

Team Europe, led by Captain B.W. “Boo” Burnett, has historically had the far better players and has ruled Kiva Cup play, winning every Kiva Cup event until the Americans shredded the Europeans in 2009 to capture its first Kiva Cup trophy. Team USA is officially led by Captain J. Hartsell with significant guidance from Captain in Waiting, Marcus J. Skiba, and significant second guessing by others.

Quite simply, no other sub-amateur golf event matches the Kiva Cup in terms of awkward situations and the unique combination of truly excellent and truly horrid golf shots.

Please take your time and peruse this site for player interviews and previous competition reports. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section of the latest post, or DM us on Twitter at twitter.com/kivacup.

Check back often for updates as the 2010 Kiva Cup approaches!


*The Kiva Cup is the premier event in amateur coastal golf according to us. The Kiva Cup is not sanctioned by either the USGA or the R&A. The Kiva Cup is not sponsored nor officially endorsed by Kiva Dunes or Jerry Pate. We hope that they don’t mind us using the name ‘Kiva’ in the name of the event. Same goes for the quality folks at Kiva.org. We believe that we were around before them, but they're still a great group and cause, check them out.

2 comments:

Kutilda Woods said...

Hello. I am Tida Woods. I am please to follow these Cup. My Eldrick he say, "Mama Tida, these Kiva Cups best golfing contest held in world! These Cups heavily contested each fall in matches of death!" My dead husband Earl he loving the matching play. He always say matching play the truest form of the golfing. Is why I big big fan of these Cups. Also, I am liking the Deuce on Fort Morgans Road it very laid back and you don't have to wear formal dressing gown to eat lobster claws like Club of Beach. I am to be wishing good luck to both Captians. I call on the Ancient & Royal, PJA, and the USJA to be recoginize these event as greatest. That all I say now. Oh, I almost forget, Phil he sad joke.

Katie Burnett said...

I love the changes to the site Jammy!