University of Memphis Athletics
Lars van Meijel Selected to Prestigious Palmer Cup Team
Apr 15, 2016 | Men's Golf
van Meijel is on team Europe for the Ryder Cup-style competition
NORMAN, Okla. - Memphis junior Lars van Meijel has been selected to participate in the Arnold Palmer Cup for Team Europe, announced on Monday morning. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be played June 24-26 at Formby Golf Golf Club, in Formby, England.
"We are very proud of Lars in being named to The Palmer Cup Team," said Memphis head coach Blake Smart. "This is one of the best events in college golf and to go and earn his spot says a lot about the work he has put into being an elite college athlete."
"It will be a great honor to represent Europe this summer and to be associated with The King, Mr. Arnold Palmer," said van Meijel. "I want to thank everyone that helped make this possible especially my family, coaches and Coach Smart in particular who has helped me grow as a player, person, and as a student these last two years."
van Meijel currently leads Memphis with a 71.9 stroke-per-round average, and has six top-20 finishes in seven events during the fall and spring.
He took medalist honors at the Pinetree Intercollegiate in Kennesaw, Georgia, and took no worse than seventh place overall through the first five events of the season.
For Team Europe, Sam Horsfield of Florida (England), Vanderbilt's Matthias Schwab (Austria), Adrian Meronk from East Tennessee State (Poland), Lars van Meijel of Memphis (Netherlands), Augusta's Robin Petersson (Sweden) and David Boote of Stanford (Wales) were determined through the ranking. Committee selections were Maynooth's Stuart Grehan and Antoine Rozner of UMKC. Mathias Eggenberger of Stirling (Switzerland) qualified for Team Europe by winning The R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament. Robin Sciot-Siegrist of Louisville was Janice Moodie's coach's pick.
"This is also a great day for our program, it shows that we can attract and develop talent," said Smart. "We in Memphis believe in our facilities and support staff and this selection shows the golf world that our belief is validated."
In 1997 Arnold Palmer was approached by the Golf Coaches Association of America regarding lending his name to an international collegiate event between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. The event would use a Ryder Cup-style format and bring together the top eight collegiate players in the United States against their counterparts from GB&I. Palmer, a former collegiate player himself, has been called America's greatest Ambassador for the game of golf. With his blessing and the support of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company, the inaugural event was played at his own Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida in June 1997.
"I had long thought that an international competition such as this would enrich the lives of young men through the universal bond of the great game of golf." said Palmer.
Since its inception, over 90 former Arnold Palmer Cup participants have gone on to earn cards on either the PGA or European Tours. Many outstanding collegians that have participated in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Over 40 alumni from the matches have claimed more than 160 victories on the PGA or European Tours including including U.S. Open Champions Graeme McDowell, Lucas Glover and Webb Simpson, Open Cham- pion Ben Curtis, Jonas Blixt, Jonathan Byrd, Alejandro Can~izares, Rhys Davies, Luke Donald, Derek Ernst, Matt Every, Gonzalo Fdez.-Castan~o, Rickie Fowler, Bill Haas, Chesson Hadley, Brian Harman, Russell Hen- ley, J.J. Henry, Michael Hoey, J.B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III, Scott Jamieson, Dustin John- son, Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Peter Lawrie, David Lingmerth, Joost Luiten, Hunter Mahan, Pablo Martin, Bryce Molder, Francesco Molinari, Alex Nore´n, Ryan Moore, Richie Ramsay, Rory Sabbatini, Brandt Snedeker, Justin Thomas, Michael Thompson, D.J. Trahan, Bo Van Pelt, Nick Watney and Oliver Wilson.
"We are very proud of Lars in being named to The Palmer Cup Team," said Memphis head coach Blake Smart. "This is one of the best events in college golf and to go and earn his spot says a lot about the work he has put into being an elite college athlete."
"It will be a great honor to represent Europe this summer and to be associated with The King, Mr. Arnold Palmer," said van Meijel. "I want to thank everyone that helped make this possible especially my family, coaches and Coach Smart in particular who has helped me grow as a player, person, and as a student these last two years."
van Meijel currently leads Memphis with a 71.9 stroke-per-round average, and has six top-20 finishes in seven events during the fall and spring.
He took medalist honors at the Pinetree Intercollegiate in Kennesaw, Georgia, and took no worse than seventh place overall through the first five events of the season.
For Team Europe, Sam Horsfield of Florida (England), Vanderbilt's Matthias Schwab (Austria), Adrian Meronk from East Tennessee State (Poland), Lars van Meijel of Memphis (Netherlands), Augusta's Robin Petersson (Sweden) and David Boote of Stanford (Wales) were determined through the ranking. Committee selections were Maynooth's Stuart Grehan and Antoine Rozner of UMKC. Mathias Eggenberger of Stirling (Switzerland) qualified for Team Europe by winning The R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament. Robin Sciot-Siegrist of Louisville was Janice Moodie's coach's pick.
"This is also a great day for our program, it shows that we can attract and develop talent," said Smart. "We in Memphis believe in our facilities and support staff and this selection shows the golf world that our belief is validated."
In 1997 Arnold Palmer was approached by the Golf Coaches Association of America regarding lending his name to an international collegiate event between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. The event would use a Ryder Cup-style format and bring together the top eight collegiate players in the United States against their counterparts from GB&I. Palmer, a former collegiate player himself, has been called America's greatest Ambassador for the game of golf. With his blessing and the support of the Arnold Palmer Golf Company, the inaugural event was played at his own Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida in June 1997.
"I had long thought that an international competition such as this would enrich the lives of young men through the universal bond of the great game of golf." said Palmer.
Since its inception, over 90 former Arnold Palmer Cup participants have gone on to earn cards on either the PGA or European Tours. Many outstanding collegians that have participated in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Over 40 alumni from the matches have claimed more than 160 victories on the PGA or European Tours including including U.S. Open Champions Graeme McDowell, Lucas Glover and Webb Simpson, Open Cham- pion Ben Curtis, Jonas Blixt, Jonathan Byrd, Alejandro Can~izares, Rhys Davies, Luke Donald, Derek Ernst, Matt Every, Gonzalo Fdez.-Castan~o, Rickie Fowler, Bill Haas, Chesson Hadley, Brian Harman, Russell Hen- ley, J.J. Henry, Michael Hoey, J.B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III, Scott Jamieson, Dustin John- son, Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Peter Lawrie, David Lingmerth, Joost Luiten, Hunter Mahan, Pablo Martin, Bryce Molder, Francesco Molinari, Alex Nore´n, Ryan Moore, Richie Ramsay, Rory Sabbatini, Brandt Snedeker, Justin Thomas, Michael Thompson, D.J. Trahan, Bo Van Pelt, Nick Watney and Oliver Wilson.
Players Mentioned
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