Florida Swing Special Report Monday 25 March - As super-rich pro's tee-it-up for the Tavistock Cup could golf have a team competition featuring the world's most prestigious clubs?

Due to the delayed final round of the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard means that the 10^th Tavistock Cup will be played under a modified format featuring the 16 players who have already finished or who were not playing at Bay Hill, and the competitors from Bay Hill will join in on Tuesday. Monday's first round will not count towards the overall Tavistock Cup results, with each of the six teams counting four 18-hole strokeplay scores on Tuesday, each team is represented by four golfers.

The Tavistock Cup launched in 2004 by the owners of the gated communities in Orlando of Lake Nona and Isleworth Country Club, Tavistock formed the tournament as the unofficial World Golf and Country Club Championship between the world-class super-rich stars of golf who make Lake Nona and Isleworth their homes. In 2011 the event was expanded to include two further clubs, Albany in the Bahamas and Queenwood in Surrey, England; and now in 2013 the Tavistock Cup will feature teams from Albany, Queenwood, Primland and Oak Tree joined Lake Nona and Isleworth, all represented by four golfers.

The Tavistock Cup is unique in professional golf as a team event which features teams other than ones which represent countries or continents, and with the golf club being at the core of the game worldwide it has got me thinking about a unique and exciting team competition which could become one of the most compelling and prestigious tournaments in all of golf. 

As a warm up for The Masters the Tavistock Cup sits well on the worldwide golf schedule and I don't see any reason to change its general date on the schedule but I would make it a tournament endorsed by the major tours and the Major Championship organizers played over the Tuesday and Wednesday following The Players Championship each March (read Move The Players back to March). The tournament would be played over the Member course at Redstone Golf Club, the host venue for the Shell Houston Open, which could be moved to play from Friday to Monday to enable players to practice over the Tournament course if they should need to.

There would be 16 clubs represented at the tournament, each selecting 6 players during the draft (which would take place on Monday evening) to represent them, the draft system would mirror that used by the likes of NFL in America etc. Day One would feature groups of four clubs each playing each other once in fourball pairings, with the teams ranked after the first day and then competing against each other in singles play on Day Two for the championship, the team with the most points after day two would win the championship. Each match would be worth 1 point, played over strokeplay and ties would be determined by score relative to par.

Inter-club matches have been an integral part of club golf throughout the world and the opportunity for the world's leading golf clubs to be involved on the worldwide stage would surely be an opportunity which the members of the likes of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Augusta National Golf Club, Royal Melbourne, Valderrama, East Lake, Atlanta Athletic Club, Royal Sydney and The Australian Golf Club and others would take up.

Golfers living at golf clubs has happened throughout the history of the game and in the last decade a large number of the world's best golfers from across the world have taken up residence at the likes of Lake Nona, Isleworth, Albany, Queenwood, Wentworth, Old Palm and the Bears Club.

The likes of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are among the most popular tournaments in golf, involving team work and passion and it can be replicated at a club level just like it is when the best players represent their country.

Coming tomorrow – the 22^nd and final edition of the Florida Swing Special Report – ONWARD TO AUGUSTA – reviews the Florida Swing, looks back at Bay Hill and looks ahead to The Masters on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk