The CSGA Links Volume 2 Issue 3 May, 2014 | Page 24

Matches Announced for 43rd Julius Boros Challenge Cup T he Connecticut Section PGA and Connecticut State Golf Association Team Captains Dennis Coscina and Bob Ruby met and released their respective team lineups for the Julius Boros Challenge Cup, being played Thursday, May 1st at New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut. This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the matches, which first began in 1972 at Tumble Brook Country Club. The matches are an annual gathering of the state’s top amateur and professional golfers, which showcases Connecticut PGA Section Professionals against amateurs from the Connecticut State Golf Association in a match play format. The Challenge Cup was founded in memory of Julius Boros, a bona-fide Connecticut resident and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee. Boros is perhaps the most successful player in the history of Connecticut golf, having won eighteen times on the PGA Tour including two United States Open Championships and a PGA Championship. The Connecticut Section PGA won the inaugural matches by a score of 33 ½ to 20 ½. Each team consists of fourteen players, who earned their way onto their respective teams through their accomplishments in the previous season. Each player will play an Individual Match Play competition worth three points, and will also participate in a Four Ball Match worth three points. A total of sixtythree points are available in the Matches, with the Connecticut Section PGA needing 31 ½ points to retain possession of the Cup, and the CSGA needing 32 points to regain possession of the Cup. Last year, the Connecticut Section PGA Professionals captured the Challenge Cup for the second consecutive year by a margin of 35.5 points to 27.5 points. Captain Dennis Coscina is a Challenge Cup veteran, having perhaps the most impressive playing record in Connecticut Section PGA history. Coscina won a total of eight Connecticut PGA Championships and six Section Player of the Year titles, and played in the total of fourteen Challenge Cup Matches. This will be the fourth year that Coscina has captained the Connecticut PGA squad, and his team will enter this year’s event having won the past two years. “Our team is really excited and motivated this year, and every year it feels like our team is stronger and stronger,” said Captain Coscina. “The Challenge Cup is a great opportunity to gather the two premiere golf organizations in Connecticut for an event that is rich in tradition and camaraderie. Having played in the first twelve Challenge Cup’s, it is my favorite tournament of the season, and I am truly thrilled to have the opportunity to captain our team again this year as we look to retain the Cup for the third consecutive year.” By contrast, this will be only the second year that Captain Bob Ruby will lead the CSGA team. Ruby’s competitive record spans nearly five decades and includes a runner-up finish in the 1965 Connecticut Junior Amateur and a semifinalist finish in the 2001 Connecticut Amateur Championship. Dr. Ruby is widely regarded as an expert on the Rules of Golf, having worked as a Rules Official at twenty USGA Championships and accomplishing the rare feat of a perfect score on the USGA Rules Test. “I am truly honored to have been selected to Captain the CSGA team for the second consecutive 24 Connecticut State Golf Association