Image: PresidentsCup.com
Liberty National Golf Course hosts The Presidents Cup this weekend in Jersey City. Get excited for the influx of people benefiting local commerce – or get annoyed by the influx of people (because former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama will be here!) contributing to your line-wait for local coffee. Either way, this promises to be a fun, monumental weekend.
Founded in 1994 by the PGA, the biennial Presidents Cup tournament consists of a U.S. team and an international team (minus Europe) in a match play format, 12 players per side. Here’s who we’re watching this year:
U.S.
Captain: Steve Stricker
Justin Thomas
Rickie Fowler
Matt Kuchar
Dustin Johnson
Daniel Berger
Patrick Reed
Kevin Kisner
Jordan Spieth
Phil Mickelson
Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman
Brooks Koepka
International
Captain: Nick Price
Jason Day
Branden Grace
Adam Hadwin
Anirban Lahiri
Charl Schwartzel
Hideki Matsuyama
Jhonattan Vegas
Emiliano Grillo
Si-Woo Kim
Marc Leishman
Adam Scott
Louis Oosthuizen
I’ll be the first to say – beyond watching the game, beyond the backdrop of the beautiful Hudson River, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline, and former president/celeb sightings, the players also offer some serious eye candy. But I digress…
Everything else you should know about your visit this weekend is here. If you love the game, the water, the green, the view of Manhattan or just being near the action – this is for you. Also, I passed through the installation of the Presidents Cup installation at the Oculus/Westfield Word Trade Mall on my late night journey home from work Sunday; it’s done and worth checking out.
A cool factor of this tourney is that no prize money is awarded and the net proceeds are distributed to charities nominated by the players, captains, and captains’ assistants. The first 10 Presidents Cups raised over $32 million for charities around the world.
Image: Golf Digest
Other fun fact: Phil Mickelson has the most records for the Presidents Cup. I met him on the course of my family’s club years ago while he was filming a commercial there… and I can say I’ve also been in golf commericials 4 for the USGA. Adding to the very Venn Diagram JCG/GG #fullcircles.
Enjoy the best of Jersey City while you can access the amazingness of the very exclusive Liberty National.
Tee time,
JCG