The Jackson T. Stephens Cup, a national collegiate golf tournament, will stage its inaugural event Oct. 17-20 at The Alotian Club in Roland.
The event is named in honor of the late Augusta National Chairman Jackson "Jack" T. Stephens, who also was a prominent Arkansas businessman. The event was announced in a Wednesday news release by Stephens' son, Warren Stephens.
The Stephens Cup field will feature seven of the top NCAA Division I men’s and women’s teams in the country, with an eighth team in each group competing at the invitation of the host club.
For the inaugural tournament, a selection committee will invite the teams by the end of 2020. For subsequent tournaments, invitations will be determined through a unique Stephens Cup ranking based on the Golfweek collegiate and GolfStat rankings.
“Our goal is to create a distinctive and highly-competitive collegiate tournament that is comprised of tomorrow’s PGA Tour and LPGA stars playing some of the country’s premier golf courses,” Warren Stephens, who will serve as the tournament chairman, said in the release. “Dad truly believed that golf instilled life lessons and built character, especially when started young. Therefore, he would be very humbled and proud that this tournament is named in his honor.”
The tournament format will be 54 holes of stroke play setting the field for a final day of match play based on the stroke-play team finish. The final day of match play will be 18 holes. The event also will recognize its 54-hole winners upon completion of stroke play.
The 2022 tournament will be held at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., followed by the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas in 2023.