The fourth annual UBS Cup will take place on The Kiawah Island Club’s Cassique golf course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The US$3 million match play event, which features two 12-man teams competing in a Ryder-Cup style format, will be held from November 19-21 this year with the United States defending its title against the Rest of the World team.
Arnold Palmer will captain the U.S. team, while Gary Player will lead the Rest of the World. Each team consists of six players age 40-49 and six players 50 and over. The event will be sanctioned by the European Seniors Tour, the US PGA Tour and the US Champions Tour.
Cassique, which opened in 2000, was designed by American Tom Watson, the winner of eight Majors and three Senior Majors. The layout, reminiscent of classic links courses, features undulating dune land terrain with dramatic mounding, stacked sod pot bunkers and large, rolling greens. The back nine incorporates thick patches of live oaks and expansive tidal marshes. Named after a 17th century Kiawah Indian chief, the course sits near the entrance to Kiawah Island where the Kiawah River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
“We are thrilled to bring the UBS Cup back to such a fantastic setting as Kiawah Island,” said Robert Wolf, Chief Operating Officer, UBS Investment Bank. Cassique is perfect for this competition. Players from both teams are going to enjoy playing on a course that looks and plays very much like a British links course. We are looking forward to a tremendous week on Kiawah Island.”
Players from both teams will be staying at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, the new ultra-luxurious, oceanfront resort and spa opening August 20th, 2004. The Sanctuary is the newest addition to the already renowned Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
Both team captains are looking forward to a challenging competition at Kiawah Island.
The Golf Channel, which is viewed in 62 million homes, will provide worldwide coverage of the UBS Cup while the tournament will also be broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
UBS, one of the world’s flagship financial firms, is a leading wealth manager, a premier investment banking and securities firm, a global asset manager and the market leader in Swiss retail and commercial banking. The firm, headquartered in Zurich and Basel, employs around 66,000 people and has offices in 50 countries.
IMG, who is managing and staging the event, is the world’s largest, most diverse and only truly global company dedicated to the marketing and management of sport, leisure and lifestyle. IMG employs a staff of nearly 3,000 people and has offices, sports academies and IMG-managed real estate facilities in 34 countries.
The Kiawah Island Club is a subsidiary of Kiawah Development Partners (KDP), the developer of Kiawah Island, a 10,000-acre sea island located 21 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina. The club encompasses The River Course and its clubhouse, Cassique and its clubhouse, The Beach Club and Sasanqua, the members-only spa.
Reflecting the style and charm of a grand southern seaside mansion, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island is the crowning jewel for a resort island already known for its championship golf. Located just 30 minutes from historic Charleston, the resort features some of the largest and most luxurious guestrooms in America, as well as a nature-based spa and spectacular oceanfront fine dining.