Bridges Cup Returns to Trump Turnberry for Fourth Edition

The fourth Bridges Cup, a biennial mid-amateur team match-play competition between the United States and an International squad, will be played Oct. 5-7 at Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Twelve players per side will compete in four-ball, foursomes and singles matches across the Ailsa and King Robert the Bruce courses.

What is the Bridges Cup and who has won it?

The Bridges Cup began in 2022, when the Americans won by a single point. The U.S. followed with a more comfortable win in 2023, then held on for a 17-15 victory over the International team at Haesley Nine Bridges in South Korea in 2024. That 3-0 record puts the streak, not the trophy, at the center of this year's buildup, according to U.S. captain Jeff Fujimoto and International captain Simon Holt.

Both captains pointed to the result of other 2026 team events as evidence the gap has narrowed. Great Britain and Ireland beat the U.S. to win the Walker Cup, and Europe won both the Solheim Cup and, a year earlier, the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. The Bridges Cup closes out the global team-event calendar for the year.

Why is the Bridges Cup being played at Trump Turnberry?

The Ailsa Course has hosted four Open Championships — 1977, 1986, 1994 and 2009 — including the 1977 "Duel in the Sun" between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus and Watson's near-miss at age 59 in 2009, when he lost a playoff to Stewart Cink. The resort has also hosted a Women's British Open, several Senior Open Championships, the 1963 Walker Cup and four British Amateur Championships. Architect Martin Ebert built the King Robert the Bruce course in 2017 and renovated the Ailsa in 2025.

This year's Bridges Cup, set for a world top-20 golf course making its return to the global stage, might be the most anticipated yet.

Who is playing in the 2026 Bridges Cup?

Australia's Lukas Michel, the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who has played in the Masters and U.S. Open, returns for his second Bridges Cup after going 5-0 in 2024. He is joined on the International side by Caolan Rafferty, a 2019 Walker Cup player for Great Britain and Ireland, and two-time Irish Amateur Open champion Colm Campbell. The American roster includes Drew Kittleson, the 2008 U.S. Amateur runner-up, and debutant John Peterson, the 2011 NCAA individual champion who made 93 PGA Tour starts before regaining his amateur status.