The Golf Coaches Association of America approached Arnold Palmer in 1997 with regard to him lending his name to an international collegiate competition between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. The event would be played in a Ryder Cup-style format, bringing together the top university and college players on either side of the Atlantic. Of course, Arnie was only too keen to agree to this request.

In 2003, the GB&I team was expanded to include players from all of Europe then it morphed into an International team in 2018, with both sides now comprising twelve male and twelve female golfers.

The original format was two eight-man teams playing four four-balls, four foursomes and two sets of singles matches for a total of 24 points. The 18th edition of the competition in 2014 saw team sizes increase to ten players on each side, playing five four-balls, five foursomes, and two sets of ten singles matches for 30 points overall.

Four years later, with the introduction of women into the teams, the format was changed again to incorporate mixed matches during the first two days of competition. Now there are twelve mixed four-balls the first day, twelve mixed foursomes in the morning then six all-women four-balls and six all-men four-balls in the afternoon on the second day, followed by twenty-four singles on day 3, giving a total of 60 points to play for.

The inaugural Palmer Cup, as it was first named, was played at the Bay Hill Club in Florida, with the home team winning the tournament by a convincing score of 19 points to 5. The location of the championship has alternated on either side of the Atlantic every year since. When hosted in the US, it’s held mainly on courses in the eastern states of the country. Of the five nations in the British Isles, only Wales has yet to stage an event.

The 28-inch Arnold Palmer Cup trophy is really rather unique – designed over a 6-month period by Arnold’s daughter Amy Saunders, working with artist Karen Powell and sculptors from Art Research Enterprises in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – because it features the bronzed hands of the late legend cradling the removable cup, one giant hand underneath and the other on one of the handles.

It’s reckoned in the first 23 years of the competition that more than a hundred former participants went on to gain playing cards on the American and European professional circuits. Furthermore, 29 players have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, and more than 60 golfers have gone on to win in excess of 240 victories on the professional tours.

Famous Arnold Palmer Cup players for the International team include, from the early days, Luke Donald (1998, 1999) and Graeme McDowell (2000, 2001). Italy’s Francisco Molinari and Sweden’s Alex Noren were on the same winning team at Ballybunion in 2004, while John Rahm from Spain made more recent appearances at Walton Heath in 2014 and Rich Harvest Farms in 2015.

On the American side, a number of top PGA Tour players starred in the Arnold Palmer Cup before turning pro: Dustin Johnson was part of the winning team at Caves Valley Golf Club in 2007; Rickie Fowler played at Glasgow Golf Club’s Gailes Links the following year; and both Justin Thomas (2012, 2013) and Bryson De Chambeau (2014) have appeared in more recent times.

The only venue to stage the event twice is Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida, which stepped in during the covid crisis in 2020 to host the tournament after Lahinch was ruled out earlier that year.