Hennessy Cognac Cup

The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representing Continental Europe. There was also an earlier event, in 1974, played at Sotogrande in Spain, not sponsored by Hennessy. In 1982 a third team, the Rest of the World, was added and the event became a stroke-play contest with an individual prize. The 1984 event was run on a different basis, with 10 national teams competing. The tournament was played in years when there was no Ryder Cup.
The first matches between a team representing Great Britain and Ireland and a team representing Continental Europe were played for the Joy Cup from 1954 to 1958. The concept was restarted with the Seve Trophy in 2000.
Event summaries.
1974.
The match was played on 2 and 3 November at Royal Sotogrande Golf Club, Sotogrande, in southern Spain, between the Rest of Europe and Great Britain and Ireland. There were 10 players in each team. There were 4 foursomes matches and 10 singles on both days. All matches were over 18 holes. Two points were awarded for a win and one point for a halved match, so that a total of 56 points were awarded.
The Rest of Europe won the first-day foursomes 5–3 but Great Britain and Ireland won the singles 14–6 to lead 17–11. On the final day Great Britain and Ireland won the foursomes 6–2 to lead 23–13. The Rest of Europe won the afternoon singles 12–8, but Great Britain and Ireland won the match 31–25.
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Teams.
The teams were:
1976.
The match was played from 17 to 19 September at Bondues Golf Club, Lille, in northern France, between the Continent of Europe and Great Britain and Ireland. There were 11 players in each team. There were 5 foursomes matches on the first day, 5 four-ball matches on the second day with two sessions of 10 singles matches on the final day. All matches were over 18 holes. Each team gained a half-point for matches that were level after 18 holes, so that a total of 30 points were awarded.
The match was level at 2½–2½ after the first day foursomes but Great Britain and Ireland won all five of the four-ball matches to lead 7½–2½ after the second day. On the final day Great Britain and Ireland won the first singles session 6–4 and the second session 6½–3½ to win the match 20–10.
Source:
Teams.
The teams were:
1978.
The match was played from 21 to 23 September at The Belfry, between Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent of Europe. There were 11 players in each team. On the first day there were 4 foursomes matches followed by 6 singles. On the second day there were 4 foursomes matches, again followed by 6 singles while there were two sessions of 6 singles matches on the final day. All matches were over 18 holes. Each team gained a half-point for matches that were level after 18 holes, so that a total of 32 points were awarded.
The Continent of Europe led 3–1 after the first day foursomes and increased their lead to 6½–3½ at the end of the day. However Great Britain and Ireland won the second-day foursomes 3½–½ and the singles 4–2 to take an 11–9 lead after two days. On the final day Great Britain and Ireland won the first singles session 4½–1½ and, although the Continent of Europe won the afternoon session 4–2, Great Britain and Ireland won the match 17½–14½.
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Teams.
The teams were:
1980.
The match was played from 12 to 14 September at Sunningdale Golf Club, between Great Britain and Ireland and the Continent of Europe. There were 11 players in each team. On the first day there were 4 fourball matches followed by 6 singles. On the second day there were 4 foursomes matches, again followed by 6 singles while there were 10 singles matches on the final day. All matches were over 18 holes. Each team gained a half-point for matches that were level after 18 holes, so that a total of 30 points were awarded.
Great Britain and Ireland led 2½–1½ after the first day foursomes but the score was level at 5–5 at the end of the day. Great Britain and Ireland won all four foursomes matches on the second day but the Continent of Europe took the singles 4½–1½ so the Great Britain and Ireland only led 10½–9½ after two days. On the final day Great Britain and Ireland won the first five singles matches to take a winning lead. The Continent of Europe won four of the remaining matches so that the final result was a victory for Great Britain and Ireland by 16½–13½. Nick Faldo was the only member of the winning team to play in all five sessions, while five member of the Continent of Europe did so.
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Teams.
The teams were:
1982.
The tournament was played from 9 to 12 September with three teams, Great Britain and Ireland, the Continent of Europe and a Rest of the World team. The event was played at Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset. There were 10 players in each team who played a round of stroke-play each day. The best 8 rounds on each day were used to determine the team score. Great Britain and Ireland led after the first day with a score of 540, 9 ahead of the Rest of the World. A score of 543 on the second day extended their lead to 12. The Rest of the World reduced the lead to 10 on the third day but Great Britain and Ireland had the best final day and won by 20 strokes. The Continent of Europe finished another 19 strokes behind.
There was a £5,000 prize for the leading player over the 72 holes. This was won by Mark James with a score of 263, two strokes ahead of José María Cañizares and Nick Faldo.
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Teams.
The teams were:
1984.
The tournament was played from 13 to 16 September between 10 teams, the four home nations, five from continental Europe and a Rest of the World team. The event was again played at Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset. There were 4 players in each team who each played a round of stroke-play on each of the first two days. The best three rounds on each day were used to determine the team score. The leading four teams then played semi-finals and a final on the next two days. The semi-finals and final were match-play contests with two fourball matches in the morning and four singles in the afternoon.
There was a £4,000 prize for the leading player after the first two days. This was won by Sandy Lyle with a score of 129, a stroke ahead of Howard Clark.
Source:
Teams.
The teams were: