The Pride and Purpose of the Armed Forces Cup

Martin Rogers

FOX Sports Insider

The game of golf has no shortage of competitive formats, from traditional stroke to Stableford to serve to quads and contests that are loved by many – mostly just for the rounds and giggles loved by friends. prefer.

However, there is one thing that stands above all others as a test of steel and nerves. Matchplay, where a round essentially consists of 18 group single-hole competitions with a single opponent right next to you, requires exaggerated levels of hand attrition and strength.

“If you meet any of our members, you’ll see,” said Joshua Peyton, president of Veteran Golfers Association and its founder Armed Forces Cup events, told me recently. “You’ll soon realize why there’s no choice but to fight wits.”

VGA started in 2014 as a good idea to get military veterans to take the course for both social and spiritual reasons, and has since grown to an organization of over 18,000 members taking over 1,000 nationwide events.

Perhaps its most special is the Armed Forces Cup, held since 2021, where veterans from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard use intelligence , clubs and their close friendship to compete each year for bragging rights that will last for a century. way to next year’s competition. Space Force veterans also joined and were incorporated into the Air Force team.

There should never be a special reason to write about the sacrifices of American veterans, but sometimes the timing is too good to pass up. As another holiday looms before us this 4th of July, the latest edition of the Armed Forces Trophy, which takes place over Memorial Day weekend, will be re-broadcasting Wednesday on FS1 (7pm). evening ET).

Services and sport have been linked throughout history and that connection remains close. Amazing Inspirations Army football team from the Second World War. Pat Tillman and his ultimate sacrifice. Coach K’s career as a military officer and his coach begins to take charge black Knight. The role of the resumption of sports in helping to heal the immediate pain of 9/11. Super Bowl related beauty contest and Professional Baseball Tournament Game. And more.

In addition to television coverage, the Armed Forces Cup must not take place in front of huge numbers. The galleries do not have many deep people. It’s intimate and family but full of fierce competition every year and again this time.

The course, Champions Retreat, is flooded with golf royalties. Located just outside of Augusta, Georgia, this is the only collection of courses (three separate nine-hole masterpieces) in the world designed by the historic trio of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. Furthermore, it hosts only two external tournaments, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur League and the Armed Forces Cup.

“This is our Ryder Cup,” said retired colonel and Army captain Steve Bristow. “You can put any player on any team and I guarantee they feel proud – and possibly nervous – in the way we represent our branch just like any other player. which of the United States or Europe do in the actual Ryder Cup.”

While professional golf has had a tumultuous year, no one would accuse the other aspect of the game of having mixed priorities.

Peyton was involved in a car rollover while on military service in Northern Iraq in 2011, being transported by ambulance to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, and his hand was saved. narrowly thanks to the expertise of doctors.

He said he was in “a dark place” in the months that followed, a natural byproduct of the trauma he went through. He’s played sports all his life, including baseball at West Point, and now needs a focus point.

He sets up VGA, wants members to be active and have a reason to get out of the house. He knows what servants are like, the inherent competitiveness and need to be involved in something, the benefits of the pursuit of achievement.

“VGA is something special,” said retired Army sergeant Tim Stanton. “It’s an opportunity for people to be around other people who know what it’s like to be in their situation, do something they love, compete with it, and just live with it.”

The military is both character building and character expression, a place where the consequences of failure or missteps are on a different level from what most of us would face.

That creates resilience, but it can also create a sense of loss when great responsibility is stripped away. As VGA continued to grow, Peyton and co-founder Joe Caley tried to reach as many parts of the country as possible, spreading the spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie. The Armed Forces Trophy is a natural extension.

“You can imagine how trash talk is,” Stanton added. “We are dedicated to the same cause, serving the country as part of the armed forces. But never underestimate what it means to have each branch prove themselves to be the best. That goes all the way through. everything and this is the perfect escape for that.”

We’re not dealing with disclosure warnings here, but the 2023 event culminated with an extremely tight outcome, defying the laws of probability and being sealed, as you might expect. , by a man’s ability to adjust to all the pressures that are weighing on him.

“It pretty much sums up everything it’s about,” says Peyton. “Unity, pride and dedication to service. But also a real sports competition, grueling, hard to win and very thrilling to watch.”

Participation is set up in a way to reward both excellence and high participation in VGA events.

Teams of 10 featuring everyone from novice golfers to weekend warriors qualify, creating tense finishes with more proficient players often having to give up significant strides per hole. .

It is sport, no doubt about it, but also something else. Just as the holidays mean different things to different people, so experiencing the Armed Forces Cup each year offers something unique for each member of each team.

“There’s nothing like being there,” Peyton said with a big smile. “You have to be there, or see it, to get the full picture.”

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX And Sign up for the daily newsletter.

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