Palmer Cup team adds UA's Benton

Kaylee Benton
Kaylee Benton

Kaylee Benton of the University of Arkansas was one of four coaches picks selected Friday to the Arnold Palmer Cup.

Benton, a senior from Buckeye, Ariz., and Patrick Martin of Vanderbilt were the final two players named to the 24-person U.S. team. Sofia Garcia of Texas Tech and Keita Nakajima of Nippon Sports Science University were the final two International team selections.

Final Arnold Palmer Cup teams

U.S. women

Kaylee Benton, Arkansas*

Abbey Carlson, Vanderbilt

Jennifer Chang, Southern California

Hailee Cooper, Texas

Mariel Galdiano, UCLA

Haylee Harford, Furman

Dylan Kim, Arkansas

Stephanie Lau, Northwestern

Emilia Migliaccio, Wake Forest

Malia Nam, Southern California

Kaitlyn Papp, Texas

Ann Parmerter, Dallas Baptist

U.S. men

John Augenstein, Vanderbilt

Quade Cummins, Oklahoma

Austin Eckroat, Oklahoma State

Will Gordon, Vanderbilt

Will Grimmer, Ohio State

Cole Hammer, Texas

Peter Kuest, BYU

Patrick Martin, Vanderbilt*

Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M

Alex Scott, Grand Valley State

Alex Smalley, Duke

Brandon Wu, Stanford

International women

Ana Belac, Duke (Slovenia)

Sofia Garcia, Texas Tech (Paraguay)*

Leonie Harm, Houston (Germany)

Jiwon Jeon, Alabama (Republic of Korea)

Lois Kaye Go, South Carolina (Philippines)

Frida Kinhult, Florida State (Sweden)

Agathe Laisne, Texas (France)

Julie McCarthy, Auburn (Ireland)

Lorna McClymont, SRUC Elmwood (Scotland)^

Hira Naveed, Pepperdine (Australia)

*Karolina Stormo, Kent State (Norway)#

Albane Valenzuela, Stanford (Switzerland)

International men

Kengo Aoshima, Wake Forest (Japan)

Alex Del Rey, Arizona State (Spain)

Luis Gagne, LSU (Costa Rica)

Aled Greville, Birmingham University (Wales)^

Takumi Kanaya, Tohoku Fukushi (Japan)

Keita Nakajima of Nippon Sports Science University (Japan)*

Peng Pichaikool, Mississippi State (Thailand)

Ivan Ramirez, Texas Tech (Colombia)

Jovan Rebula, Auburn (South Africa)

Matthias Schmid, Louisville (Germany)

Sandy Scott, Texas Tech (Scotland)

Chun An Yu, Arizona State (Taiwan)

*Coaches picks

^ R&A Foundation Scholar winners

# Replaces UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit

Benton most recently finished runner-up to teammate Maria Fassi at the SEC Women's Championships in Birmingham, Ala. She has posted two additional top-five finishes and has been 12th or better in all but two events this season as the No. 8-ranked Razorbacks prepare to play in the NCAA Cle Elum Regional in Washington beginning Monday.

A qualifier for both the U.S. Women's Open and the Augusta National Women's Amateur, Benton advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship and tied for fourth at the Women's Mexican Amateur.

"She's played well all year," Golf Coaches Association of America Deputy Director Dustin Roberts said. "She is a good match-play player, and that's what you've got to have in the Palmer Cup."

Benton will join Arkansas teammate Dylan Kim on the U.S. team, which will play its International counterparts June 7-9 at The Alotian Club in Roland.

A three-time PING All-America selection, Martin is in his senior season at Vanderbilt. The Birmingham native is a three-time All-SEC honoree and earned Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar accolades last season. He'll join Vanderbilt players John Augenstein, Will Gordon and Abbey Carlson for the U.S.

Also Friday, it was announced that Kent State's Karolina Stormo of Norway was named to the International team to replace UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit, who has withdrawn.

The final additions join the first members who were announced March 6, and Lorna McClymont of Scotland and Aled Greville of Wales who joined the International team after winning the R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament at St. Andrews in Scotland on April 2.

The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America, and was first played at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men's and women's collegiate golfers from around the world. The 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club in France were the first time men and women were playing side-by-side as partners in the Arnold Palmer Cup.

Sports on 05/04/2019

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