America Ahead After Three Round at USA China Friendship Cup

USA Leads 16-8

BEAUMONT , Calif.  — The United States extended its lead to 16-8 following the third round of the USA China Friendship Cup at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont , Calif.  The Americans swept the men's four-ball matches while China claimed both women's points.
        
    “Our players finished the round well,” said Team USA Men's Coach O.D. Vincent.  “There were some close matches and we played well down the stretch.  Our guys made putts and hit shots when they needed to.  It was an exciting day and we're looking forward to tomorrow.”            
    Bronson Burgoon and Brett Willis won the first point of the round when they downed Hu Mu and Ye Jianfeng, 4 and 3.  Both U.S. players birdied the first hole and led throughout the entire match.  Sam Cyr and Cameron Tringale followed with a 6 and 4 win against Wu Ashun and He Zeyu.  The American duo won six of seven holes with birdie.  Ben Fox and Brian Locke each posted birdie on No. 14 and par on No. 15 to break a stalemate through 13 holes and beat Han Ren and Su Dong, 2 and 1.  Chris Killmer and Chris Moore completed the American sweep of the men's matches with a 3 and 1 victory against Fu Zhongyang and Yang Wenzhang.  Killmer and Moore won three of the match's last four holes.  
        
     China claimed both women's matches.  Lie Wei and Zhou Xiaoxuan defeated Jacqui Concolino and Kimbra Kosak, 2 and 1.  Jennifer Osborn and Kristi Piepenbrink battled back from dormie 3, but missed two par putts on No. 18 to fall to Haung Ping and Yang Taoli, 2-up.

America Widens Lead at USA China Friendship Cup

Team USA up 12-6

BEAUMONT , Calif.  — America widened its lead to 12-6 following the second round of the USA China Friendship Cup at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont , Calif.  The United States won the first four matches of the round, claimed six overall and halved two others.
                
    Sam Cyr - who was 1-up at the turn - started the USA run when he birdied Nos. 10, 11 and 14 to defeat Su Dong, 5 and 3.  Brian Locke won six-straight holes beginning on the fifth hole a 5 and 4 win against He Zeyu.  Brett Willis downed Wu Ashun, 4 and 2, in a match he never trailed.  Ben Fox continued the American winning streak by beating Hu Mu, 5 and 4.  Fox claimed the final three holes - all by birdie - to put the match away.    
        
    The U.S. streak ended when Chris Killmer and Han Ren halved their match.  Cameron Tringale put the Americans back on the winning track by downing Yang Wenzhang, 5 and 3.  Tringale recorded six birdies and an eagle in his match.    
        
    China won its first match of the day when Ye Jianfeng overcame a three-hole deficit through 11 to defeat Chris Moore, 1-up.  Bronson Burgoon won the last two holes of his match to halve Fu Zhongyang.  
        
    Jacqui Concolino pushed the American lead to eight points with a 5 and 3 victory against Li Wei.  Kristi Piepenbrink jumped out to a 3-up lead through three before trailing Huang Ping by two after 14.  Piepenbrink would win both the 15th and 16th and both players parred the last two holes for a halved match.
        
     China won the last two matches.  Xhou Xiaoxuan downed Kimbra Kosak, 3 and 2, while Yang Taoli defeated Jennifer Osborn, 4 and 2, to cut the American lead to 12-6.

America Leads After First Round of USA China Friendship Cup

Team USA jumps out to a 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 advantage.

BEAUMONT , Calif.  —  The Americans claimed a 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 lead following the first round of the inaugural USA China Friendship Cup at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif.  The United States won four matches and halved another in the first-day four-ball competition.
        
    “The Chinese are a talented group of players and are very classy on the course,” said USA women's coach Dan Brooks.  “They played with a lot of heart and our team had to play good golf to be ahead at the end of the round.  Tomorrow should be an exciting second day.”
        
    The United Stated claimed its first victory 2-up when China conceded the match on 18 fairway after Ye Jianfeng's tee shot was lost and Mu Hu failed to chip out of the left-side shrubs and both Ben Fox and Brian Locke's tee shots landed in the fairway.  Fox and Locke - who trailed by two after 11 - birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to win the match's final three holes.  A Chris Killmer par on the 18th halved the second match against China 's Han Ren and Su Dong.  The US led for 14 holes of the match behind Chris Moore's five birdies before China claimed 16 and 17 to take its only lead before bogeying No. 18.  Bronson Burgoon and Sam Cyr pushed the American lead to two points with a 4 and 2 victory against Fu Zhongyang and Yang Wenzhang.  The U.S. carded birdies on eight of the sixteen holes played and led for good beginning after No. 4.
        
     China earned its only victory of the round when He Zeyu and Wu Ashun won the last three holes to defeat Cameron Tringale and Brett Willis 2-up.  The Americans led from the second through the 15th before the Chinese birdied the final three holes.  
        
    Jacqui Concolino and Kimbra Kosak posted a 1-up come-from-behind victory over Huang Ping and Yang Taoli in the first women's match.  Kosak birdied No. 17 to pull the match to all square and tallied the only par on 18 for the victory.  Jennifer Osborn and Kristi Piepenbrink claimed the final match of the round to give the U.S. a 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 advantage when Osborn parred No. 18 for the 1-up victory.  The match had been all square since the 12th.
        
    Action continues Friday with second-round singles matches teeing off at 7:30 a.m. and third-round four-ball competition scheduled to begin at 1:40 p.m.

 

Inaugural USA-China Friendship Cup Kicks Off July 27th

Team USA comprised of all true freshmen

NORMAN, Okla. – The USA-China Golf Council will host the first ever USA-China Friendship Cup July 27-29, at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont Calif.  Each country will be represented by 12 golfers - eight men and four women - who will compete in four rounds - two singles and two Four-Ball.

     Oak Valley is no stranger to hosting major events.  It has been the host venue for the second-stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School for the last five years.

    Team USA players are limited to only one year of college experience.  Those representing America will be Bronson Burgoon of Texas A&M, Vanderbilt's Jacqui Concolino, Sam Cyr of Point Loma, Arizona's Ben Fox, Chris Killmer of Cal. State-Bakersfield, Kimbra Kosak of Gustavus Adolphus, Loyola Marymount – Brian Locke, Chris Moore of Allegheny, Arizona State's Jennifer Osborn, Kristi Piepenbrink of Indianapolis, Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale and Brett Willis of Central Alabama Community College.  The US men will be coached by UCLA's O.D. Vincent and the women by Dan Brooks of Duke.

    Representing China will be Wu Ashun, Yang Wenzhang, Zhou Xiaoxuan, Huang Ping, Li Wei, Yang Taoli, Fu Zhongyang, Han Ren, He Zeyu, Hu Mu, Su Dong and Ye Jianfang.  The coaches for Team China will be Song Qingli and Ouyang Wen.

    The College-Am competition will tee of July 25th, followed by a Junior Clinic on July 26th.  Round one - which will be a Four-Ball match - tees off July 27th.  Rounds two and three - singles and Four-Ball, respectively - will take place on July 28th, followed by the tournament's final singles round on July 29th.

    The bi-annual event will next take place in Beijing , China.  It will immediately precede the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies.