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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Score one for the old(er) guard.
In a close 27-hole tilt, by a score of 7-5, half a dozen golf writers and traditional media - including yours truly - held off a team of six golf social media influencers in a one-day, three-session Ryder Cup-style event at PGA National Resort & Spa, which hosted the biennial Matches in 1983 - a nail-biter, where the U.S. beat the Euros 15-13.
To be honest, the result of the inaugural Content Cup is practically irrelevant to any but the dozen golfers involved, and that's okay. Those of us who experienced it will remember it fondly (especially the winners!). More importantly, though, the humid, moody early-September day in South Florida was a reminder that if you haven't played Ryder Cup-style golf before, you are missing out on a top-tier golf experience.
I have written several times over the years about how rewarding playing competitive golf can be, and how there is absolutely no requirement to be a scratch or low-handicap player in order to enjoy it. Golf's handicap system exists to level the playing field so that anyone can compete against anyone else. It is one of the great inventions in sport, and one every golfer should take advantage of in order to live the richest possible life in this great game.
This is true on an individual competitive level, but it gets exponentially sweeter when you can share the heat of competition with others. Events like this one enjoy an extra bit of juice when you incorporate the classic formats of the Ryder Cup.
The Content Cup began with two mini-sessions of team play - nine holes of Four-Ball (i.e. best-ball) followed by nine holes of Foursomes (alternate-shot) on PGA National's PGA Tour-host Champion Course. My friend Shaun Tolson, who writes for LINKS Magazine and Kingdom Magazine, and I took on the formidable duo of YouTube golf documentarian Zac Radford and former college golfer-turned-influencer Morgan Pankow, who has more than 100,000 combined followers between Instagram and TikTok. Followers of the GolfPass series Glam Golf with Blair O'Neal may recognize her from when she and fellow influencer Claire Hogle took on Blair and former Miss Canada Sara Winter in an entertaining "Mulligan Mayhem" match a few months ago.
Morgan and Zac were a formidable opposing duo, but Team Writers managed to eke out a Four-Ball victory on the Champ's 9th green to secure the first point of the Content Cup. Team Influencers took their revenge, though, absolutely schooling the ink-stained wretches with a 4&3 alternate-shot drubbing on the back nine. Shaun and I dug ourselves a hole early and were no match for Zac's power and Morgan's precision. The match was all but over before we even got to the famously volatile Bear Trap holes.
Singles followed - a quick but entertaining session at PGA National's Staple par-3 course. Once again, Shaun and I managed to secure full points for our side, and it turned out to be the winning two-point margin as our Team Writers comrades did their part, too.
PGA National served as a fun and welcoming venue for the Content Cup. Hundreds of millions of dollars in recent investment have turned it from a tired also-ran of a resort to an upper-echelon place to stay and play in Florida. The Butcher's Club, a midcentury-modern-styled steakhouse where both teams gathered for dinner on the eve of the matches, is one of the finest restaurants I have enjoyed at any golf resort. PGA National recently came under new ownership and management; it is now run by Salamander Hotels, which oversees Innisbrook Resort, another high-quality Florida property.
I have a bit of an up-and-down relationship with the Champion Course, but this experience made me feel as though it's better suited to match play than stroke play, to the point where I found myself wondering whether the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic might be a little more compelling as a match-play event. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though, even though it would inject some needed intrigue into a tournament that has been kneecapped by the PGA Tour's signature Events scheme.
Kudos to the choice of the Staple par-3 loop for Singles; that was fun, although I found myself missing getting the resort's super-fun Match Course involved in the Content Cup action. No matter - it was a fun first year and I would be glad to return to help defend Team Writers' crown next time around.
Why your next golf trip should include Ryder Cup-style team competition
There is such a wonderful simplicity to competitive golf. The patriotic pride, history and legacy that give the Ryder Cup its prestige are wonderful, but in the end, all you really need are opponents who want to beat you as badly as you want to beat them, and teammates who are similarly bought-in.
Competition makes any golf trip more fun. So many buddies trips are reunions of one sort or another - high school, college, family. The bonds from those formative years often come about from past competition, even if it's something as low-stakes as video games or beer pong. Adding golf to the mix later in life means a built-in excuse not just to travel together, but to compete for bragging rights or a few dollars along the way. This enriches every round. The 19th-hole tales of missed birdies and terrible tee shots fall flat when they happen in a vacuum. But when there's something on the line, they become the stuff of legend, even if no one cares beyond your own bar stools.
Along my own travels, I've encountered plenty of groups who like to keep a running match tally during their trips. I have even filled in once or twice for a missing combatant when I've been randomly paired with a threesome. One of my fondest memories will forever be a high school training trip where we divided ourselves into two teams and played for points not just on the golf courses of Myrtle Beach but on some mini-golf layouts as well. One coveted point was even awarded at dinner for the team that ate more buffalo wings.
If you and your buddies want to get in the competitive spirit, I have two main pieces of advice.
1. Play more for pride than prize. Leaving recent Team USA whining about pay-for-play in the Ryder Cup aside, what makes the biennial Matches great is that there is no prize fund. The Cup, and everything it represents, is the prize. If you and your group insist on stakes for your two-team throwdown, I would limit them to a modest amount - say, post-round drinks or dinner. No one needs to lose their shirt or their friends over a missed 3-footer on the last green.
2. Embrace different formats. Yes, Singles match play is the purest and arguably best form of competitive golf, but if you're on a multi-round trip, there is no reason not to simulate the Ryder Cup's other formats, especially Foursomes. I know that alternate-shot is not particularly popular in the U.S., but it is a fun, if tense way to play. The fact that only two golf balls are in play at any time means that matches run quickly. The fact that each teammate hits roughly half the shots makes it a perfect format for a second round of the day, especially when racing daylight.
Ryder Cup-style team match play is a fun way to add intrigue to a golf trip, sure, but there's no need to travel far in order to embrace it. If you have a typical golf group of six or more, why not sort yourself into teams and play for points a few times over the course of the year? Or if you're a club member, encourage a group of members to split into teams and have a season-long competition. One of the most interesting private clubs I've visited is The Olde Farm in Bristol, Va., where every new member is elected to either the club's Blue or Grey team, signified by the color of golf carts they use when on property. Then there's Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society and the Royal Burgess, two neighboring clubs in Edinburgh, Scotland, that open the gate that separates them every five years in order to play a Grand Match, where more than 100 members from each club compete against one another over nine holes from each course.
Golf may traditionally be an individual sport, but there are all sorts of ways to team up. All of them make for a richer life in this great game.
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