Arnold Palmer Cup, which features U.S. and International college golfers in a Ryder Cup-style competition, returning to Cherry Hills CC in 2027, Arnie’s grandson Sam Saunders noted in press conference this week
By Gary Baines – 3/5/2026
Cherry Hills Country Club, which has hosted many big-time national and international golf championships over its 104-year history, is adding another such event to the list.
Eighteen years after Arnold Palmer himself spent much of the week at Cherry Hills as the Arnold Palmer Cup was first held at the club, the historic course in Cherry Hills Village will come back for seconds in 2027.
The Ryder Cup-like match-play competition between college golfers — both male and female — from the U.S. and outside of America — will be contested at Cherry Hills June 7-13, 2027.
Sam Saunders, Palmer’s grandson, spoke publicly this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational about Cherry Hills hosting the APC in 2027 after Tralee Golf Club in Ireland does the honors this year.
“It’s really a special thing and I think we’ll be able to highlight that event more and more this next year at Tralee and then 2027 we’re going to Cherry Hills, so we’re really going to start hosting that event in some really meaningful special connected places to my grandfather and the history of him and the history of the game of golf,” Saunders said at his press conference on Tuesday. “So it’s really an event that is definitely on the up.”
Palmer, of course, famously won his only U.S. Open title at Cherry Hills, in 1960. And the late World Golf Hall of Famer, who passed away in 2016, is near royalty at the club, and he was an honorary member there. In the ’60 U.S. Open, he rallied from seven behind going into the final round, when he drove the green on the 346-yard opening hole en route to a closing 65. Among others, he overcame Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan for the title.
Hosting big-time golf events “is a sacred mission at Cherry Hills,” 2027 Arnold Palmer Cup chairman Dave Keyte noted last fall at a celebration of the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation held at Cherry Hills. Palmer’s daughter Amy and grandson Sam Saunders attended that event.
The Palmer Cup — at that point featuring only male golfers — was previously held at Cherry Hills in early June 2009, and Arnie himself attended functions throughout the week and shared many a story with the competitors.
Prior to the start of play at the 2009 Palmer Cup, Palmer threw down a playful warning to the competitors.
“I’m going to be on the first hole,” Palmer said, looking alternately at golfers from the U.S. and European teams. “And the first guy that pulls out a 1-iron, 2-iron or 3-wood, I’m going to run out there and hand him his driver.”
Steve Ziegler of Broomfield, the only Coloradan competing that week, did indeed drive the first green that week — and with Palmer watching.
Ziegler turned to Palmer and said, “Like that?”
Arnie “kind of laughed,” Ziegler said.
“I was extra excited; the adrenaline was pumping,” Ziegler said at the time. “I’ll never forget that moment.”
Alas, the home team lost that week as the Europeans defeated the Americans for just the second time on U.S. soil in the then-13-year history of the Palmer Cup. The 13-11 victory for the Europeans evened the all-time series 6-6-1.
As noted, before the Palmer Cup returns to Cherry Hills in 2027, the 2026 event will be held in Tralee, Ireland as the U.S. and the International squad alternate years as hosts. In 2018, the opposing team for the U.S. went from just Europe to everything outside America. That’s also the year when women’s players were added to the event. Nowadays, the Palmer Cup features 48 contestants — 24 men and 24 women.
Going into 2026, the U.S. leads the all-time series 15-13-1.
Among the many prominent players who have competed in the Palmer Cup are Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Ludvig Aberg — as well as Cherry Hills CC honorary member Wyndham Clark and fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Jennifer Kupcho.
The Palmer Cup has been held at many of the world’s top courses, including St. Andrews’ Old Course, Bay Hill, the Honors Course, Royal Liverpool, Baltusrol, Kiawah Island, Whistling Straits, Royal Portrush and The Alotian Club.
2027 will mark the 30th anniversary of the first playing of the Palmer Cup — at Bay Hill, Palmer’s course in the Orlando area.
The Palmer Cup “is still a little bit of an unknown to a lot of people in the world of golf, and I’m so excited for people to be able to start following and really becoming fans of what the Arnold Palmer Cup is,” Saunders said this week. “Because I know it’s incredibly meaningful to us, it was something my granddad loved, and it’s really great to see the connection continue to grow and evolve here.”
Cherry Hills, of course, has been host to many big-time golf competitions. That includes three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, a U.S. Women’s Open, a U.S. Senior Open and three U.S. Amateurs. In all, the club has been the site of 10 USGA championships, the most for any facility in Colorado.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com