Amateurs get breakthrough victory at Jim Shriver Cup

Thirty-six years later, the amateurs finally bested the pros.

The Inland Empire PGA Jim Shriver Cup has a long, storied and mostly one-sided history, but the amateurs wrote a new chapter by knocking off the pros 13½ -6½ last weekend at Circling Raven Golf Club. The pros had won 35 consecutive Cups.

“Who knows?” Spokane optometrist Gene Teigen responded when asked how it happened. “Maybe the amateurs had a little more good fortune. I played with Bob Christensen in the first match Friday and the pros (Coeur d’Alene Golf Club’s Brent Walsh and Prairie Falls’ Billy Bomar) beat us pretty well. They were like 4 under after five holes and they looked unbeatable.

“I think it was probably just the putts went in for (the amateurs) and didn’t for the other group.”

Qualchan pro Mark Gardner and Deer Park’s Craig Schuh were teammates at Columbia Basin College as well as on the amateur squad that defeated the pros in 1979. The amateurs also won in 1978. Before that, pros captured nine of the first 10 titles, known then as the Chronicle Cup.

“It was so long ago I can hardly remember,” Gardner said of the ’79 event.

Gardner turned pro in 1980 and he’s played in every Cup except one that conflicted with a tournament on the East Coast.

“There’s no question they deserved to win,” Gardner said. “There’s a lot of those young 30-somethings, Reid Hatley, who grew up playing with the Prughs (Corey and Alex), Matt Jorgensen is in that same age group. That was a really strong junior group.

“It’s good to see them play and play well. That’ll make us pros sharpen our games.”

The top 10 amateurs and top 10 pros qualify based on performances in Monday pro-ams. Hatley and Nate Hair each went 3-0 for the amateurs, who won 7½ of 10 possible points in Saturday singles matches.

“We had a few rookies and I don’t think they knew that it meant so much,” said Teigen, who has been on the losing side in four previous Cups. “We sat around afterward, the pros and amateurs, had a few drinks, ate lunch, talked about other golfers like golfers do and yukked it up but there was no special (celebration) beyond that.”

It was tied after Friday morning best-ball matches. Amateurs moved in front to stay by winning 3½ points in the afternoon Chapman.

“Jim Holt and I were playing Gardner and Schuh and we were two up with two to go,” Teigen said. “The 17th hole we were playing in the dark. We had to use flashlights on our phones to shine it on the hole and Gardner made a 15-footer to win the hole. We had to come back the next morning to finish the match.”

Gardner looks forward to the matches every fall.

“It’s such a fun competition,” he said. “You’re not playing for any money, just bragging rights. You get your team shirts and attire on. It’s fun to play guys you don’t normally play with on a regular basis. The whole thing is just a lot of fun.”