RSG  vs  USG

On May 11th, 2004, two International teams will play a 36 hole match over the New and Eden courses at StAndrews.

As far as we are aware,  this is the first ever golf competition between two teams from different continents, solely due to the Internet.  In the Usenet discussion forums, there are two golf related discussion groups, rec.sport.golf and uk.sport.golf.  Rec.sport.golf (RSG) attracts a world-wide subscriber list, although the majority are from North America.  The UK group is primarily a UK focused group, but has many subscribers from other parts of the world.

The RSG contingent is made up of 8 players, seven from the USA and one from Canada.   RSG, through the hard work of various individuals, have several tournaments throughout the US and Canada each year, with one of the largest and longest running events, hosted by David "Thor" Collard in Columbus, Ohio each year.  The North American players are all regular attendees of RSG-Ohio, and indeed it was at that event a few years ago that the subject of a golf trip to Scotland was first discussed.

The USG side is composed of 8 players from all over the UK. The USG team have one of their prime events the day prior to the match and will be driving from the Midlands to St.Andrews after their event.

After eighteen months of planning, hundreds of emails, a golf trip was planned and courses booked, entirely through the Internet.  It was in December of 2003 that Kevin Nurse and David Sneddon, came up with the proposal to play a match in a Ryder Cup style format, with players representing each Newsgroup.

And where better to play the match, but at St. Andrews - the home of golf.

Although there is no doubt each match will be fiercely contested, the main object is for people who have never met, other than through the medium of the Internet to meet in person, enjoy each other's company both on and off the golf course, and create enduring friendships.