Origins of the Travis Cup

The Travis Cup grew out of a proposal submitted to the Golf Committee of Stafford Country Club, Stafford, NY, in the Spring of 1994 by Stafford member, Ed Homsey.  The proposal called for an inter-club event involving clubs with a golf course designed by Walter Travis for the purpose of celebrating the shared heritage of each club.

The competition format of the Travis Cup was patterned after the Ryder Cup, with teams made up of a cross-section of players from each club.  Following the approval of the Stafford CC golf committee and Board of Governors, the proposal was sent to several clubs in western New York and southern Ontario, with Travis-designed golf courses as indicated by The Architects of Golf, written by Geoffrey Cornish and Ron Whitten.

Positive responses soon came from Lookout Point Country Club, in Fonthill, Ontario, and Orchard Park Country Club, in Orchard Park, NY.  The 1994 President of Orchard Park CC, Dr. Joseph DiVincentis, invited each club to an organizational meeting at Orchard Park in the Fall of 1994.

The inaugural Travis Cup organizing committee consisted of golf professionals and members from each club.  There was an enthusiastic consensus to accept the basic principles of the proposal, and to establish the Walter J. Travis Cup as a premier, annual event.  Orchard Park Country Club volunteered to host the first Travis Cup to be held in 1995, with the other clubs agreeing on a hosting rota for subsequent years.

CLUBS INVOLVED IN THE TRAVIS CUP

The Travis Cup expanded to a four club format in 1996 with the addition of Pennhills Club of Bradford, PA.  Three years later, Cherry Hill Club, of southern Ontario, joined as the fifth club.  From that point on, each team has 16 players:  men’s champion, men’s championship runnerup, men’s senior champion, men’s super-senior champion, women’s champion, women’s senior champion, both men’s and women’s A, B, C, & D flight players, junior champion, and golf professional.  The competition format is match-play, in recognition of predominant amateur competition during the days of Walter J. Travis, with  individual matches for the champions and four-ball matches for the handicap flights and Pro/Junior pairings.

Pennhills Club participated in the Travis Cup through 2009.  Cherry Hill Club was part of the Travis Cup through 2017.  In 2018, the original three clubs competed in the Travis Cup, hosted by Stafford CC.

For Travis Cup competition results, Click Here.