The 2022 Red Hoffman Cup Matches: Arcola Flexes Its Muscle! 

 
(June 4, 2022) Arcola CC became the first club to capture six Red Hoffman Cup titles this Saturday at Hackensack GC with a convincing seven-shot win over Baltusrol GC. Defending champion Arcola's 280 total was built on the strength of its consistency. They were the only team to keep all four of its scores at par or better, while every other finalist had to include a high score in its total.

 The Finals were a five-club, 40-player, two-man sides, medal-play competition, with all scores counting. The 7000-yard, par-72, Charles Banks-designed Hackensack course proved to be a formidable test, despite nearly ideal weather and excellent course conditioning. Today's event came down to the last two Arcola / Baltusrol sides, with only one stroke separating the two squads.

The low round, a stunning 66, was turned in by Arcola's captain, Brian Celiberti and his long-hitting partner Chris DeJohn. The sides of Brendan Jonland / Mike O'Connell and Will Celiberti / Grant Sturgeon both cut par by one, turning in a 71, while the Lucas Farmer / Trevor Randolph side matched par 72.

Baltusrol fell just short in its bid for a fourth championship. The team captain -- in this case, Nick Desai -- again led from the front, as he and partner Ryan Fountaine managed a sterling 69, which was matched by the side Stephen Wentz / Jeff Werring. Ben Alcorn and Gregg Angelillo also kept it under par with a 71, while Eric Broms and Patrick Cooper turned in a 78.

Deal G&CC came in with the wind at its back after breezing through both the group and semifinals matches. Playing in its maiden finals, Deal came in third at three-over 291, but should feel a sense of accomplishment. Patrick Keenan and John Browndorf led the squad with an excellent 69, followed by the side of Anthony Campanile and Phil Ferraro at even-par 72.

In fourth place at 299 came Knickerbocker CC, led by the sides Bill Hook / Andrew Thomas and Andrew Shortal / Matt Panzella at 73. Knickerbocker is back in the finals after a four-year absence, but it is a relatively young team that can expect considerable success in the coming years.  

Fifth place out of the 36 clubs in the Hoffman Cup Matches was earned by another finals rookie, the Bedens Brook Club. The squad shot a 308, led by captains Max Bischel / Greg Heisen, and by the side of Andrew Glander / Mark Eisenacher at 75. Another talented, young squad, we can expect Bedens Brook to wreak havoc in the years to come.
  
Host Hackensack GC could not have been more accommodating to our event. The course was immaculate thanks to the leadership of Golf Course Superintendent Richard Lane, Mike Dezik's pro shop helped us run the event as well as possible, and the post-round award reception was among the best we've ever had, thanks to the leadership of General Manager Norman Forsythe. Our finalists were immersed for a day in the C.B. Macdonald / Charles Banks / Seth Raynor "National" school of architecture.  Hackensack's hospitality is in the generous spirit of tradition that our member clubs have shown us in the past, most recently by Somerset Hills CC in 2021, Hamilton Farm GC in 2020 and (this year's U.S. Amateur Finals host) Ridgewood CC in 2019.

Complete results from this year's intragroup play, semifinals matches and Finals is posted under 2022 Competition. Our thanks to the captains and professionals who have taken the initiative to field their teams and get these matches played.

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2022 Red Hoffman Cup Matches
Key Dates

 Groups Announced  Intergroup Matches Semifinals   Finals
When: March 1, 2022 When: Sat, Apr 30; Sun May 1; Sat, May 7 When: Sat, May 21 or Sun, May 22 When: Sat, June 4, afternoon
Who: Your club and three others will form a single Group. Captains should start setting up matches. Who: Your club vs. one of the other three clubs in your group, each day. Who: All group winners, minus the club with the highest point total from the Intergroup Matches which will have a bye directly to the Finals. Who: The four Semifinal match winners, plus the bye team; that is five teams.
Where: Each day, two four ball matches at home, two away. Where: Two matches home, two away (same as Intragroup Matches). Where: Hackensack Golf Club 
Format: Two man four ball match play, Nassau point sytem. Team with the overall highest point total advances directly to Finals. Format: Adjusting for the bye team: A vs. I; B vs. H, etc. Format: For each club, four, two-man teams; four ball, medal play; all four scores count; sudden death tie breaker.

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