Iowa Wins Director's Cup, Nebraska Finishes Third
COUNTRY CLUB VILLAGE, MO (September 5, 2019) – Nebraska couldn't overcome a slow start in trying to defend its title, and finished third at the 10th Director's Cup Matches at St. Joseph Country Club in Missouri.
Nebraska won the last time the matches were conducted in 2017, but tallied just two points in the opening Four-Ball session, while Iowa jumped out to the lead and went wire-to-wire to claim the cup. Iowa finished with 25.5 points, while Missouri stormed back during the Singles session to take second with 20.5 points. Nebraska made a run, but totaled 19 points, while Kansas finished fourth with seven points.
The Director’s Cup is a goodwill competition is staged every other year and consists of round-robin Four-Ball, Foursomes and Singles matches between teams from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The matches are scored in a Nassau format, with one point awarded for the front nine, back nine and total.
Nebraska sat in a tie for third with Kansas at two points after the opening Four-Ball matches on Wednesday, while Iowa took their lead with 7.5 points. Missouri was just a point behind at 6.5 points. Afternoon Foursomes was a bounce-back session for Nebraska, as Omaha’s Dan Huston and Gretna’s Brian Csipkes teamed up to sweep their match and earn all three points. Nebraska won six points in Foursomes, second-most among the four teams. Iowa extended its lead with 8.5 of a possible nine points during the session to get to 16 total, but Nebraska pulled into second place with eight total points.
Nebraska again competed well in the Singles matches during the final day, combining to earn 11 points, the second-most of the session. However, it was Missouri that made an incredible run to garner 13 of a possible 18 points and pass Nebraska for second place Lincoln’s David Easley led the squad in singles and was the only Nebraskan to earn all three points in his match, defeating Greg Goode of Kansas. Csipkes finished off a great performance by winning 2.5 points, and bringing his total for the matches to 6.5 points, which led Nebraska along with Huston. Huston earned 2.5 points in his Singles match to get to 6.5 points for the week. Huston also made a hole-in-one on the 181-yard par-3 11th hole during his match.
Iowa wins the Director's Cup for the third time, having also won in 2004 and 2011, and moved into second place behind Nebraska, which leads the all-time series with four wins.
For more information on the Director’s Cup, visit the website at the button below.
About the NGA
The Nebraska Golf Association, founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by the NGA. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
