PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - The Junior Ryder Cup, which features an impressive list of today's notable professional and amateur golfers, traces its roots back to 1995.

In September of that year, a series of exhibition matches were conducted, with Central New York PGA Section-area juniors competing against 12 leading European junior players. The Europeans toured three New York courses and no results were published.

Rory McIlroy competed in the Junior Ryder Cup in 2004. (Photo: The PGA of America)

The inaugural Junior Ryder Cup was contested prior to the 1997 Ryder Cup in Sotogrande, Spain. The U.S. won, 7-5.

In 1999, Europe returned to face the U.S. juniors, and dominated at the Country Club of New Seabury in the Boston area by a 10 1/2-to-1 1/2 margin.

This marked the first of three-straight Junior Ryder Cup victories for the Europeans. In 2006, however, the United States team was able to halve the Junior Ryder Cup, 6-6, at Celtic Manor in Newport, Wales.

In 2010, the United States Junior Ryder Cup team won its second consecutive trophy with a narrow 13 1/2 to 10 1/2 triumph at Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, Scotland. It was the second consecutive victory for the U.S., following a 22-2 domination in 2008 in Bowling Green, Ky.

Below is a snapshot of notable players who have competed in the Junior Ryder Cup and the years they competed:

1995 - Exhibition
Sergio Garcia

1997
Suzann Pettersen
Beth Bauer

1999
Hunter Mahan
Ty Tryon
Suzann Pettersen
Nicolas Colsaerts
Rafael Cabrera-Bello

2002
Emma Cabrera-Bello

2004
Luke Guthrie
Rory McIlroy
Belen Mozo
Oliver Fisher

2006
Bud Cauley
Vicky Hurst

2008
Jordan Spieth
Alexis Thompson
Matteo Manassero
Jennifer Johnson
Carly Booth

2010
Justin Thomas
Jordan Spieth

And below is a look at Junior Ryder Cup results through the years:

The 2012 Junior Ryder Cup
The 2012 Junior Ryder Cup competition features one day of six foursome matches (three boys' matches and three girls' matches) in the morning, same day of six mixed four-ball matches in the afternoon and one final day of singles matches involving all 12 members of each team.

Participants in the 2012 Junior Ryder Cup will also play a "Friendship" Match on Sept. 26, at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club, site of the 39th Ryder Cup.

The match will feature a combined mixed four-ball, with six groupings of four players that includes one girl and one boy from both Europe and the United States. The teams will play a composite course of ten total holes, blending both front-nine and back-nine holes.