The Arnold Palmer Cup Is This Week. Here's What You Need to Know.

Every summer, many of the world's best amateur golfers team up in a Ryder Cup-style competition representing Team USA and Team International. Unfortunately, the Arnold Palmer Cup also happens to fall between the U.S. Open, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, The Open, the U.S. Amateur and, somehow, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

So if you've never heard of it—or have it confused with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, you're not alone. Here's everything you need to know before play begins Friday in Ireland.

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Think Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup but co-ed with a field entirely of collegiate golfers, including many of the best amateurs in the world. It's the only major international team event where men and women compete together on the same team.

Team USA has taken on Team International since 2018–in prior iterations the U.S. competed against Great Britain & Ireland, then Europe–with teams of 24, split between men and women. It follows a similar structure to most international team events, featuring four-ball (best ball) and foursome (alternate shot) matches over three days, culminating in single matches.

Friday: 12 mixed four-ball matches. A man and woman from the U.S. will pair up and take on a pair from Team International, counting each team’s lowest score on every hole.

Saturday (morning): 12 mixed foursomes matches. Mixed gender pairs from each team will share a ball, alternating shots on each hole.

Saturday (afternoon): 12 foursomes matches. The same as the morning, except teams are made up of pairs of the same gender (i.e. two men from Team USA would play alternate shot against two men from Team International).

Sunday: 24 singles matches. Each player on the teams will compete in a one-on-one match against an opponent of the same gender.

A won match is worth a full point, a tied match is worth half a point, and a loss is worth zero. With 60 matches in total, the first team to 30.5 points takes the win. Since the tournament added women in 2018, each team has lifted the cup four times, and there hasn’t seemed to be much of a home-field advantage for either side.

The 48 men and women in the field are headlined by some of the most recognizable names and faces in amateur golf.

Kiara Romero, a rising senior at Oregon and the top-ranked female amateur in the world, is participating in her third Arnold Palmer Cup. This year’s event grants the Team USA star her 19th point in the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) program, just one shy of the 20-point threshold to earn status on the LPGA Tour. If she makes the cut at the Evian Championship–the LPGA’s fourth major championship of the year–she will get her 20th point.

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Opposing Kiara on Team International are Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) winner Maria Jose Marin and World No. 2 amateur Paula Martin Sampedro. Maria will also have a chance to add to her resume at the Evian, hoping to reach 17 LEAP points with a made cut (or 18 should she finish inside the top 25).

Josiah Gilbert, William Jennings and Ryder Cowan–all within the top 10 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR)–will represent the United States alongside nine other men. Cowan recently caught the golfing world’s attention after finishing inside the top 25 after all four rounds at the U.S. Open.

On the other side are Tim Wiedemeyer (fresh off a European Amateur Championship victory), 2025 U.S. Amateur Semifinalist Niall Shiels Donegan, Luke Poulter, Malan Potgieter and many more.

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Alumni of the Arnold Palmer Cup are as impressive a group as you'll find, with major champions like Wyndham Clark, Lilia Vu, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, and Jennifer Kupcho making up the ranks. The tournament is a preview of the next generation of champions across the men's and women's games. Want a sneak peak of the future greats? Tune in this week.

Full teams are listed at the bottom of the article.

The tournament travels to some of the most renowned courses across the United States and Europe, with Congaree Golf Club playing host in 2025. Prior years were played across Lahinch, Laurel Valley, Bay Hill, Evian Resort and Royal County Down—to name a few. This year, the Arnold Palmer Cup returns to Ireland for the second time in three years, as the amateurs take on Tralee.

I have a bit of a soft spot for Tralee. I was lucky enough to play it almost one year ago, and while it is one of the most picturesque courses you could possibly imagine on the coast of County Kerry, it is also the site of some of my highest scoring in recent years. I’m no world-class amateur, but I assure you that even the slightest bit of wind can give this postcard-worthy course some razor-sharp teeth.

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Fittingly, there is an over-life-size sculpture of Arnold Palmer standing by the practice facilities at Tralee.

All three days are available on the Golf Channel mobile app as well as their website.

Friday: 7:00-11:00 a.m. ET

Saturday: 5:00-8:00 a.m. ET; 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET

Sunday: 5:00-9:00 a.m. ET

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