Ireland won the International King's Cup on Thursday at Lough Erne Resort on Thursday, beating the United States team by eight points, 580-572.
The Ryder Cup-style tournament, which honors Arnold Palmer, features 16-man teams of amateur golfers from both Ireland and the USA going head-to-head on the Nick Faldo-designed Northern Ireland course. Under King's Cup rules, players receive two points for a hole won, one point each for a hole halved and nothing for a lost hole.
On the first day of the two-day competition, the two teams split victories in the morning fourballs sessions of eight matches. However, Ireland picked up 303 points out of a possible 576, setting the stage for a tightness that reigned over the final three sessions.
Going into Day 2, Ireland led the United States side by 30 points, with 16 singles matches to determine the final result. The Unite States won nine of 16 matches, but Ireland's Martin Peters effectively saved the title for his team by beating American Joseph Costello by a 27-9 count.
“Even though it's friendly competition, there is still a lot of pride involved as you are representing your country and playing for your team mates so I was focused on doing well today,” Peter said.
Ireland has won in both years of the competition, but many of the United States players fully expect a win in Year 3 in 2018.
