Cairns Cup This Week At Cherry Creek In Shelby Township, Michigan

Cairns Cup Is This Week At Cherry Creek Golf Club In Shelby Township, Michigan

The Cairns Cup, which bills itself as the Ryder Cup of disability golf, is holding its biennial competition July 27 – August 2 at Cherry Creek Golf Club.

With all the talk about “growing the game,” here is a group that actually is doing so. If you have the time, stop by Cherry Creek and show your support. Or make a donation via their website: Disability Golf Matchplay Event | USA v EUROPE | The Cairns Cup

I’ll make my editiorial statement here: We don’t grow the game by making millionaires richer. We grow the game by working to make it accessible to all. We grow the game by showing that golf is for all ages, for all abilities and for all means.

Cairns Cup and Michigan

The Cairns Cup features sixteen-player teams from the United States and Europe, with a Charity Golf Day, a Gala Dinner fundraiser, a workshop for disability groups and three days of Ryder Cup style competition for golfers with disabilities.

The inaugural Cairns Cup was held in 2022 at The Shire, in London, but with this edition, the tournament has deep Michigan connections.

• The 2024 edition in Michigan will be just the second Cairns Cup — and the first to be held in the United States.
• The winning Captain of the 2022 team was Tracy Ramin, who hails from Montrose, Michigan.
• The captain of the 2024 US team is Kim Moore, head coach of the women’s golf team at Western Michigan.
• This will be the first mixed sports event in the world with two female captains. The European team is led by Tineke Loogman.

Cairns Cup Schedule

Monday, July 29

• 7.30 am – Charity Golf Day & Breakfast
• 9.00 am – Shotgun Start
• 3.15 pm – Group Photo
• 3.30 pm – Gala Dinner
• 4.00 pm – Cairns Cup Players Q & A
• 4.30 pm – Raffle & Prizes
• 5.00 pm – Finish

Tuesday, July 30

• 10.00 am – 1.00 pm – Kids Golf Foundation Clinic (Driving Range)
• Practice Rounds
• 4.00 pm – Opening Ceremony with Ian Waterhouse
  • Welcome by Erle Webber of Cherry Creek
  • USA Vice President – John Bell
  • Team USA Captain – Kim Moore
  • European Vice President – Kevin Booth
  • Team Europe Captain – Tineke Loogman
  • Naming of the Teams for Day One
  • Closing & National Anthem by Waylon Hanel

Wednesday, July 31

• 8.30 am – Day One Foursomes/Fourballs

Thursday, August 1

• 8.30 am – Day Two Foursome/Fourballs

Friday, August 2

• 8.30 am – Day Three Singles
• 5.00 pm – Presentation Dinner
  • Ian Halliwell – CEO – Expression of Thanks
  • Winning Captain Speech & Trophy Presentation

Sponsors

The Cairns Cup has a large number of sponsors including

• Sun Mountain
• Five Iron Golf
• Purpose Media
• Mizuno
• Titleist
• Adidas
• Sun Mountain
• delegate.legal
• College Park Putting greens
• Kids Golf Foundation
• Bott Prosthetics
• Golf Genius
• Detrit Sports Commission

The Teams

The US Team:

• Kim Moore (Captain) – Indiana – Leg Amputee
• Kellie Valentine (V-Captain) –Pennsylvania – Arm Amputee
• Jonathon Snyder (V-Captain) – North Carolina – Arm Impairment
• Evan Mathias – Indiana – Double Leg Amputee
• Tracy Ramin – Michigan – Leg Amputee
• Jeremy Bittner – Pennsylvania – Leg Amputee
• Brian Bemis – Michigan – Leg Amputee
• Sophia Howard – Michigan – Arm Impairment
• Brandon Williams – Ohio – Leg Amputee
• Kevin Holland – Michigan – Cerebral Palsy
• Steve Doudt – Indiana – Seated Player
• Greg Hooper – Georgia – Partially Sighted
• Kelsey Koch – Michigan – Leg Amputee
• Evan Mathias – Indiana – Partially Sighted
• Amy Bockerstette – Indiana – Down Syndrome
• Marcus Williams – Georgia – Seated Player

The European Team:

• Tineke Loogman (Captain) – Netherlands – Arm Impairment
• Kris Aves (V-Captain) – England – Seated Player
• Frans Harmsen (V-Captain) – Netherlands – Orthopaedic
• Chris Foster – England – Through Hip Amputee
• Mette Lynggaard – Denmark – Cerebral Palsy
• Kjelle Gaude – Sweden – Lower Limbs
• Jennifer Sräga – Germany – Short in Stature
• Charlie Appleyard – England – Parkinson’s
• Rutger Pranger – Netherlands – Lower Limbs
• James Gallagher – England –Cerebral Palsy
• Iain Millar – England – Brain Injury/Sight/Shoulder Injury
• Trevor Crombie – Scotland – Cerebral Palsy
• José Bagnarelli – Italy – Arm Impairment
• Frank Sorber – Germany – Leg Amputee
• Liliane Cambré – Belgium – Nerve / Muscle damage in Lower leg
• Patrick Rosenast – Switzerland – Left Side Paralysis

Cairns Cup History

The Cairns Cup is an outgrowth of a 2018 event called the Phoenix Cup, in which a group of disabled golfers from Europe met a group of disabled golfers at Rotonda Golf Club in Florida. One of the European team members — Billy Cairns — passed away the day after arriving in Florida. It is in his honor that the event is named.

The first Cairns Cup was held in 2022 at The Shire London. The United States team won 21 – 3.

The Cairns Cup organizers’ dedication to inclusion is thorough. Their team selection rules call for at least six different disabilities, including at least one sight impaired player and one seated player. No team can select more than four players with a similar disability. Players must be from six different countries in Europe and six different states in the US. Finally, players must represent a variety of golf handicap indexes, with no more than four under a 5.4 index.

All this is in concordance with the Cairns Cup mission statement:

Our mission at the Cairns Cup is to celebrate and promote excellence in adaptive golf by organizing a world-class tournament that showcases the exceptional skills and achievements of adaptive players.

We aim to provide a platform that empowers persons of disability in golf, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where they can compete, learn, and inspire others.

Through our commitment to fair play, professionalism, and innovation, we strive to elevate the visibility and recognition of adaptive golf, encouraging more persons of disabilities to pursue their passion for the game and break barriers in the adaptive golf world.

Cairns Cup Mission Statement