The North team came out hot in the singles portion of the Cobb-Whalen event and rallied to beat the South team, 12.5-11.5 to reclaim the cup. The tournament was held Sept. 23-24, 2024, at Toiyabe Golf Club in Washoe Valley, NV.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider
The Cobb Whalen Cup pits 12 South players against 12 North players in Ryder Cup style play. The event is held every two years. It is named after Clyde Cobb and John Whalen, two men who were instrumental in growing golf in Nevada. Cobb, who passed away in 2000, was a longtime president of the Southern Nevada Golf Association and is an original member of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame. Whalen, who died in 1998, was the original executive director of the Northern Nevada Golf Association.
The South won the 2022 event but with the 2024 victory, the North has now won the event five of the last six times it has been played.
The South opened the event with a 4-2 victory in the four-ball matchup before the teams split the modified foursome portion of the event, each team picking up three points.
That set the stage for the singles portion on the final day with the South holding a 7-5 edge.
The North came out red-hot in Tuesday’s singles session and put up points early and often.
In fact, the South recorded the first five points played in singles to take the lead.
But the South wasn’t done as they won the four of the next five matches leaving the squads tied, 11-11, with two matches left on the course.
Both of those matches were tied through 16 holes. The North won both 17th holes of the matches and had a pair of one-up leads with one hole remaining for both matches.
The North sealed the victory when Arturo Estrada beat the South’s Chris Price, 1-up.
“It came down to the last putt on the last hole,” said Cameron McGregor, captain of the North team. “We’re celebrating now but it was nip-and-tuck at the end. It was an exciting way to end things.”
McGregor added the singles matches is where things got a little topsy turvy.
“We looked really good with wins in the early singles matches,” he said. “But the South came back and won matches near the end. We got points in the last two matches to win but it was a really good finish.”
South captain Tim Brand said the three-day event showcased 24 players giving their best effort on every shot.
“It was a great showing by both teams,” he said. “It came down to the end and that’s the way it should be. I never want to see a blowout in this event as it detracts from the overall experience for everyone. And this couldn’t have been much closer. In the end, they needed 12½ points or we would have taken the cup back to Las Vegas…and that’s what they got. ”
Brand added the team’s start in the singles portion was tough to overcome.
“It obviously would have been nice to see a few more matches in the blue on the scoreboard,” he said. “We got off to a bad start. I’m not sure if that affected the later matches at all but it certainly could have.”
After the slow start, Brand said the team’s rally was impressive to still have a chance to win heading into the final two matches.
“Those final four players (two from the North and two from the South) were four of the best players and the reason we both kept them for the last matches,” he said. “And both of those matches could have gone either way. It was pretty exciting.”
With the victory, the North has now narrowed the overall South’s lead to 8-6 in Cobb-Whalen matchups.
“We’re getting closer,” McGregor said. “We’ll go down to the south in two years and try to whittle that down a little more.”
For complete results from the 2024 Cobb-Whalen tournament