Irish pair Hugh Foley and Matthew McClean will be looking to prevent three successive Bridges Cup titles for USA when they tee it up for the International side on Monday in Haesley, South Korea.
The Bridges Cup is the premier mid-amateur golf matches, uniting elite players from around the world in a Ryder Cup – style competition held annually at world-class golf courses. The Bridges Cup provides a platform for players to compete at the highest level of mid-amateur golf.
Foley and McClean are one of seven countries represented on the 12-man International side.
The matches are played over three competitive days. The first tournament day includes fourball and foursomes matches. The second day consists of fourball matches and the final day includes twelve singles matches.
“Looking forward to it big time,” said Foley. “I know it used to be the club World Cup or something and it was always featuring in the top-100 golf courses in the world to get them to Korea to mix and connect and play some competitive golf. They have great recognition and history at the Nine Bridges Club.
“I guess they wanted to branch out a bit further and continue with mid-am golf and promote it so they changed it to USA vs International and it’s the third time, it’s really cool the hospitality and how they have looked after us is incredible.”
Foley of Royal Dublin and McClean of Malone Golf Club have formed a formidable partnership on Irish teams over the last few years and they could prove to be a crucial pairing for the International side this week.
Both players have found the American mid-amateur circuit to their liking with McClean beating Foley in the 2022 US Mid-Amateur final two years ago.
“It’s great to have Matt here, one of the best mid-am golfers in the world since the 2022 US Mid-Am and we have played a lot of foursomes and fourbal together, we are good partners, we have only lost once or twice when I was sick at the Octagonal. I don’t think we have lost in major tournaments in foursomes. It’s great to have Irish representation in the International team,” explained Foley.
“Mid-am golf is really big in America and they are trying to promote it more around the world and they do that by hosting great events every year and looking after us really well and hosting us at top golf courses like Pine Valley, Seminol and now this trip is too good to turn down.
“There are great connections and friendships made at the events so it would be great to get that in the UK and Ireland and it kept improving and you probably do that by playing at the top golf courses like they do in the US. The tournaments don’t have a lot of history but the only way to get it is by playing in them.”
Belfast based optometrist McClean has enjoyed his fair share of elite team events with last year’s Walker Cup at St Andrews the highlight of his amateur career so far.
“I love team golf,” McClean told Golf.com, adding that he’s excited to meet most of his teammates for the first time this week. “The best event for me all of last year was the Walker Cup.
“Growing up in Ireland, we played quite a bit of team golf in club level. And then also in the last few years at national level,” he continued. “Everyone’s there for the same reason, you know, all good golfers, every golfer, no matter what their level, any sort of decent golfer wants to win, no matter what.”