GREAT BARRINGTON, Massachusetts – Due to unplayable conditions caused by inclement weather which began on Tuesday morning and continued until late Wednesday, the 2018 Endicott Cup & Tri-State Matches have been canceled. The annual event, which features teams of female golfers from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, was being held at Wyantenuck Country Club.
“We regretfully had to make a difficult decision to cancel this year’s event as a result of the conditions caused by the weather,” said Cathleen Beach, Mass Golf’s director of women’s events & player development, who served as the primary staff member on site in Great Barrington. “We greatly appreciated the tireless work of the staff who tried to prepare the course, but in the end Mother Nature created conditions unsuitable for championship play.”
The event was originally scheduled for 18 holes of stroke play for all 57 competitors on Tuesday and Wednesday. Following 36 holes, the low scorer was to be crowned champion of the Endicott Cup. Gross and net teams of seven players each were then set to compete for the Tri-State Matches in an 18-hole competition on Thursday.
However, play was suspended on Tuesday at 3:52 p.m. when conditions first became unplayable. Tournament organizers planned to have those who did not finish the first round on Tuesday return to Great Barrington to finish round one and complete round two in the afternoon. After evaluating course conditions on Wednesday, tournament officials as well as representatives from the golf course and each respective state team captain determined that the event could not be completed as planned.
This will mark only the eighth time in event history that the Endicott Cup & Tri-State Matches has been cancelled. Since its introduction in 1926, the event has been held every year except for 1938, 1942-45, 1961 and 1996.
The Connecticut Women’s Golf Association will host the 2019 Endicott Cup & Tri-State Matches on October 1-3 at Madison Country Club in Madison, Connecticut.
In 1926, the first Endicott Cup tournament was held at Hartford Golf Club (CT) as a 36-hole stroke play competition between members of the Connecticut and Massachusetts Women’s Golf Associations. The Endicott Cup was presented by Priscilla Maxwell Endicott for the winner of the competition. The plan was that the first person to win the trophy three times would retire the cup.
Edith Baker won the Cup in 1926 and 1928 and requested that the trophy be perpetual, with the winner keeping it in her possession for the year. In 1929, Massachusetts (whose membership included Rhode Island) and Connecticut played the
Kittredge Cup as the third day match play competition for the nine low gross players from each team. In 1930, Rhode Island joined as a third team and the Kittredge Cup was retired and replaced with the Tri-State Trophy.
Today, Endicott Cup competitors play 36-hole stroke play over two days. The seven low gross and seven low net players (plus an alternate from each state for the gross and net teams) compete in the Tri-State and Eaton Cup team matches on the third day of the event.
