The 42nd Williamson Cup, a prestigious annual junior competition featuring four player teams from 10 regional and state associations in a 36-hole stroke play tournament, is set for Tuesday Aug. 9 at Bent Creek CC in Lititz, Pa.
Sean O’Hair, the 23-year-old PGA Tour rookie sensation, is set to speak at the Award’s Dinner on Tuesday evening. O’Hair, currently in the top 20 on the PGA Tour money list, earned his first career victory in the John Deere Classic, recently.
The Williamson Cup Matches differ from usual junior competitions in that it basically is a family affair. Players are houseguests of host club members. Social activities away from the golf club are chaperoned by those hosts. Family activities are designed to be the core of the experience for all contestants.
In addition to the Golf Association of Philadelphia, competing associations from the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Golf Association and West Penn Golf Association), New York (Metropolitan Golf Association, Rochester District Golf Association, Syracuse District Golf Association) and Washington, D.C. and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec will participate.
In the competition, the low three scores of the four-man team for each round will be counted. If there is a playoff, all four players’ scores will count. A medallist plaque also will be awarded to the player with the lowest overall score.
O’Hair was thrust into the national limelight in 2002 after 60 Minutes II aired a piece on the trials and tribulations of a teenager attempting to make the PGA Tour. O’Hair turned professional at 16 years old after being the No. 2 ranked junior amateur in the country. He would go on to earn his high school GED while on the road traveling from golf course to golf course and trying to qualify for PGA Tour events.
This December, O’Hair earned a yearlong exemption on the Tour with a fourth-place finish at the PGA Tour’s Qualifying School. He played in his first PGA Tour event this January and recently placed second in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. He currently stands 15th on the PGA Tour money list.
“I am very much looking forward to having the opportunity to visit with and speak to such a talented group of young men,” said O’Hair. “It is a wonderful opportunity they have to represent their respective regions and states in the Williamson Cup”.
O’Hair is married and is the father of a baby daughter. When at home, he works on his game at Concord Country Club, where his father-in-law and caddie, Steve Lucas, is a member.
The Williamson Cup, put into play by A. Fred Williamson, is named in honor of his father Fred E. Williamson. Williamson was one of the founders of the famed Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. and also a member of the USGA Junior Committee. In his honor, the Williamson Cup Matches were founded by his son, A. Fred Williamson.
Teams from the four original cities, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Buffalo met at Winged Foot Golf Club in 1964 to institute the Matches. Washington, D.C., won the competition. The Golf Association of Philadelphia has captured the crown a total of seven times.
This will be Bent Creek Country Club’s first time hosting the event.
