ORLANDO – Nova Southeastern senior Richard Mansell has been selected to play in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup representing team Europe in the annual Ryder Cup-style competition that will be played June 9-11 at Atlanta Athletic Club. The Arnold Palmer Cup matches 10 of the best college golfers from the United States against 10 of the best from Europe.
 
The first six were determined by the Arnold Cup Player Ranking and the remaining four are determined by committee, a coach's pick and the R&A Scholars Tournament champions. Texas Tech's Hannes Ronnebald and Fredrik Nilehn (Sweden), Kristoffer Ventura of Oklahoma State (Norway), Jacksonville's David Wicks (England), Harry Ellis of Florida State (England) and Missouri's Rory Fransson (Scotland) qualified for Team Europe by finishing in the top six of the Arnold Palmer Cup Player Ranking. Committee selections were Maynooth's Stuart Grehan (Ireland) and Viktor Hovland of Oklahoma State (Norway). NSU's Mansell (England) was David Inglis' coach's pick. The final member of the team will be the winner of The R&A Foundations Scholars Tournament, which will be contested April 3-4.
 
Out of the 20 players selected to the United States and European teams combined, only two are from Division II. NSU's Mansell will be the only DII player on the European team, while the U.S. team will have Florida Southern's John Coultas as the only other DII player in the field. Both Mansell and Coultas compete against each other regularly as members of the Sunshine State Conference.
 
Mansell is the second Nova Southeastern men's golfer to earn a spot in the Arnold Palm Cup. Ben Taylor was the first selected in 2013. In seven tournaments this season, Mansell leads the team with a 70.95 stroke average and is on pace to break the school record in scoring average vs. par at -1.05. He has finished in the top-10 six out of the seven tournaments he has played and in the top-five four times including winning individual medalist honors at the Armstrong Pirate Men's Invitational in February. He is a two-time Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year this season and is ranked as the No. 5 men's golfer in Division II.

"It's a huge honor for me to be selected for the 2017 European Palmer Cup team," Mansell said of the honor. "It's something that I have strived to achieve since being in college and it makes it extra special it happened my senior year. The year after the passing of a true legend in Arnold Palmer. A lot of important people have helped me along the way and they are the main reason this amazing opportunity has been giving to me."
 
The format of the tournament will consist of three types of competition spread over the three-day event. A total of 30 points will be awarded with 10 points coming from each of the different types of play. Leading the European team will be Northwestern University's head coach David Inglis (Scotland) and the assistant coach will be University of Washington's head coach Alan Murray (Ireland).
 
In match play, each golfer will go head-to-head against a member of the opposing team with score ekpt by the number of holes won and the number of holes to play. When a team is up (winning) by more holes than there are holes remaining, then the match is closed out and a point is awarded to the team. If a match is tied through 18 holes, each team receives half a point.
 
Four ball play, which features five groups of two-man teams, is a match in which each member of the two-man teams play his own ball. Four balls are in play per hole and each of the four players recording a score on the hole. The team whose player posts the best score on that hole, wins the hole. Should player from each team tie for the best score, that hole is halved.
 
Foursome play, which also features five groups of two-man teams, is a match in which the golfers compete against two other golfers and each side plays one ball. The golfers play alternate shots until the hole is played out. Team members alternate on the playing of tee shots, with one golfer hitting the tee shot on odd-numbered holes, and the other hitting tee shots from the even-numbered holes. The team with the better score wins the hole. Should the two teams tie for best score, the hole is halved.
 
The Arnold Palmer Cup was first held in 1997, and up until 2002 featured the United States taking on Great Britain and Ireland. It was modified in 2003 to include collegiate golfers from around Europe. Over all the U.S. holds a 10-8-1 advantage in previous Arnold Palmer Cups, though Europe won last year's event held at Formby Golf Club in England. The two teams have alternated wins and losses over the last six years starting with a United States win in 2011.