BMW GAP Team Matches Home

  BMW GAP Team Matches

Schedules
2019: April 14, 28, May 5; Playoff/Challenges, May 11
2020: April 19, 26, May 3; Playoff/Challenges, May 9

  On October 15, 1896, a team representing Philadelphia Cricket Club squared off against a team representing Devon Golf Club’s top players. The Cricket Club won 22 to 12. The occasion was so thoroughly enjoyable (even the losers had a grand time) that the appeal of interclub matches on a broader scale was discussed and embraced. The obvious outgrowth of such thinking was the formation of an association of local golf clubs to organize and administer these competitions.

  A year later, the Association’s first year, the Interclub Team Matches were initiated. The format called for home and away matches of 18 holes between the first and second teams of each club, respectively, with each team consisting of six members.

  Charter member clubs Merion Cricket Club, the Belmont Golf Association (Aronimink Golf Club as it would later become known), the Philadelphia Country Club and the Philadelphia Cricket Club were the first four teams involved. The first team winner was the Merion Cricket Club winning five and one-half out of a possible six points, while second team competition was won by the Philadelphia Cricket Club with five out of six points possible.

  In 1915, the competition become known as the Suburban League Matches. The Suburban League Matches were not played during World War II (1943, 1944 and 1945), or in 1994 when the matches were cancelled due to severe winter storms. In 1997, the name of the matches changed to the GAP Team Matches.