ORLANDO, Fla. – Two Sunshine State Conference Men’s Golfers have been selected to compete in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup. Nova Southeastern senior Richard Mansell and Florida Southern junior John Coultas will represent the SSC at the event Arnold played June 9-11 at Atlanta Athletic Club. The Arnold Palmer Cup matches 10 of the best college golfers from the United States against 10 of the best from Europe.
Out of the 20 players selected to the United States and European teams combined, only Mansell and Coultas are from Division II. Mansell will represent team Europe in the annual Ryder Cup-style competition, while Coultas will play for the United States team.
Mansell is the second Nova Southeastern men's golfer to earn a spot in the Arnold Palm Cup. Ben Taylor was the first selected in 2013. In seven tournaments this season, Mansell leads the team with a 70.95 stroke average and is on pace to break the school record in scoring average vs. par at -1.05. He has finished in the top-10 six out of the seven tournaments he has played and in the top-five four times including winning individual medalist honors at the Armstrong Pirate Men's Invitational in February. He is a two-time Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week this season and is ranked as the No. 5 men's golfer in Division II.
Coultas is the second Florida Southern golfer to earn a spot in the Arnold Palmer Cup, joining Jeff Klauk who was on the 2000 U.S. Team. Coultas has won three of his seven tournaments this season for Florida Southern and has four top-five finishes to go along with a 71.29 stroke average. The 2-time All-American is currently ranked No. 2 in the Division II individual Golfstat national rankings and has been named the Sunshine State Conference Men's Golfer-of-the-Week three times this season. He has already played against four of the golfers who will be participating in this year's Arnold Palmer Cup, facing Burns and Ventura at the College All-American Golf Classic in November, Ellis while the Moccasins were playing in the Rod Myers Invitational hosted by Duke, and Mansell in several other tournaments.
The format of the tournament will consist of three types of competition spread over the three-day event. A total of 30 points will be awarded with 10 points coming from each of the different types of play. Leading the European team will be Northwestern University's head coach David Inglis (Scotland) and the assistant coach will be University of Washington's head coach Alan Murray (Ireland).
The first six were determined by the Arnold Cup Player Ranking and the remaining four are determined by committee, a coach's pick and the R&A Scholars Tournament champions. Texas Tech's Hannes Ronnebald and Fredrik Nilehn (Sweden), Kristoffer Ventura of Oklahoma State (Norway), Jacksonville's David Wicks (England), Harry Ellis of Florida State (England) and Missouri's Rory Fransson (Scotland) qualified for Team Europe by finishing in the top six of the Arnold Palmer Cup Player Ranking. Committee selections were Maynooth's Stuart Grehan (Ireland) and Viktor Hovland of Oklahoma State (Norway). NSU's Mansell (England) was David Inglis' coach's pick. The final member of the team will be the winner of The R&A Foundations Scholars Tournament, which will be contested April 3-4.
About the Arnold Palmer Cup
The Arnold Palmer Cup was first held in 1997, and up until 2002 featured the United States taking on Great Britain and Ireland. It was modified in 2003 to include collegiate golfers from around Europe. Over all the U.S. holds a 10-8-1 advantage in previous Arnold Palmer Cups, though Europe won last year's event held at Formby Golf Club in England. The two teams have alternated wins and losses over the last six years starting with a United States win in 2011.
SEE ALSO: 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup Teams Announced