Piggybacking off the excitement radiating from the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory, the Golf Association of Philadelphia announces the complete 2018 BMW GAP Team Matches schedule.
The numbers speak to the BMW GAP Team Matches branding as the longest running interclub competition of its kind: 332 teams, 137 Member Clubs. Translation? More than 5,000 golfers and 12,000 rounds of golf. Great Bear Golf Club returns to the BMW GAP Team Matches following a two-year absence.
Philadelphia Cricket Club, for the second straight year, will field six teams. Two of the club’s six teams will compete in Division AA, the BMW GAP Team Matches top tier. Philadelphia Cricket 1, a three-time champion (2013, 2015, 2017), defeated Huntingdon Valley Country Club, Little Mill Country Club and Glenmaura National Golf Club in the Playoff a year ago. It occupies Section I alongside Applebrook Golf Club, Commonwealth National Golf Club and Division AA newcomer Saucon Valley Country Club.
Also new to Division AA is Lu Lu Country Club, the reigning Team Championship winners. Lu Lu faces Huntingdon Valley Country Club, which holds a record 32 titles, in Week One. Philadelphia Cricket 1 opens its title defense against Saucon Valley.
Until then, any and all BMW GAP Team Matches information — from past results to scouting reports to rules and regulations — can be accessed on the event’s microsite.
Since 1897, the BMW GAP Team Matches has been contested annually, save World War II (1943-45) and the severe ice storm of 1994. It started with the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s four founding clubs — Belmont Golf Association (now Aronimink Golf Club), Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia Country Club and Philadelphia Cricket Club — each fielding two teams with six players per side. First known as the Interclub Team Matches, the event changed its name to the Suburban League Matches in 1915 before adopting its current moniker in 1997. BMW is the presenting sponsor for the fourth consecutive year.
Golf Association of Philadelphia
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The Association’s 200 Full Member Clubs and 70,000 individual members are spread across Eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
