STUDENTS' PALMER CUP SELECTION PROCESS IS REVAMPED

Europe's winning Palmer Cup team in the 2012 match at Royal County Down Golf Club, Newcastle, Northern Ireland

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
The selection process for the Palmer Cup, the annual Ryder Cup-style competition that features top collegiate players from the United States and Europe, will undergo its first change since the GB and I team expanded to include all of Europe for the 2003 event. Changes will be in effect for the 2013 event.
Each team will now be comprised of 10 players as opposed to the previous eight. The event will continue to feature 24 matches with every player required to compete twice. Players must participate in either the four-ball or foursomes matches and in one of the two rounds of singles matches.
The first six of these players will be selected according to the newly-created Palmer Cup Ranking, which uses Golfstat’s NCAA player ranking as a base. In that ranking, bonus points are awarded for high finishes and negative bonus points are given for poor finishes. Strength of schedule also is considered.
For the U.S. team, the remaining four players will consist of three committee picks and one coach’s pick. 
The final four spots on the European team will be the champion of The R and A Foundation Scholars Tournament, two committee picks and one coach’s pick.
The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 8-7-1 but Europe staged a come-from-behind victory in the June match at Royal Co Down GC, Newcastle, Northern Ireland, which was repeated by Europe in the September Ryder Cup match at Medinah.
 Europe's team of students came from 4pt in arrears to achieve a last-day 13.5-10.5 victory over the United States. The Europeans claimed seven of eight final-round matches, while halving the other.