When Vince Renda, outgoing president of the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, had an impromptu dinner with Casey Kirkman, a member of the Bridges Club and Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, California, a great idea was born. The men talked a lot about golf, including the subject of famous golf course architects. In these discussions, they had Max Behr in common since he had designed the Lakeside Golf Club in 1924 and the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in 1929. After this dinner, it was clear that the first annual Behr Cup competition was ready to play, according to a press release.
The competition is a two-day golf tournament (one round on each course) with 16 golfers from each club competing in a Ryder Cup style event. The first round took place at Lakeside Golf Club on October 5 and ended with a team total of 32 points. The second half of the competition was played at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club on October 19, and Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club emerged victorious with a final score of 79-49 points. The winning club retains the Behr Cup trophy for which it will have to fight again next year.
“The idea grew out of the Maxwell Cup, which has been held annually since 1985 and alternates venues between Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas, Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth , Texas. This is a highly coveted tournament to compete in for members of these fine clubs and, more importantly, a great tribute to the legacy of golf course designer Perry Maxwell,” Vince Renda said in the press release.
For the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, the legend is Max Behr. He was born in 1884 in New York and died in 1955. He attended Yale University where he captained the golf team and graduated in 1905. He was runner-up in the 1908 U.S. Amateur and won the New Jersey state championship in 1909 and 1910. Behr was club champion at Morristown Country Club and Somerset Hills Country Club. In 1914, he became editor of Golf Illustrated, one of the first American golf magazines. Behr moved to California in the early 1920s to design golf courses. He designed the Hacienda Golf Club, Montebello Golf Club, Rancho Park Golf Club in 1922; Lakeside Golf Club and Oakmont Country Club in Long Beach, California, in 1924; Brentwood Golf Club in 1925, viewed on the Olympic Club Lake course in 1926; and Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in 1929. Behr received $9,000 to design the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club and it was his last golf course project.
Members would like to extend a special thanks to Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club Director of Golf, Michael Jack, and Head Golf Professional, Chris Lungo, as well as Lakeside Golf Club Head Golf Professional, Kevin Bailey, and Director General, Robert Hertzing, for making this great event a reality. . – Press release
