The Walker Cup Match is an event that is held dear by golfers in Great Britain & Ireland, where the game had its origins, and in the United States, where the game was embraced so enthusiastically.
Old Tom Morris dispatched to the United States Donald Ross, who scattered great golf courses all over our country like rose petals, each its own little celebration of the game. Seminole Golf Club is one of those venues, its rugged beauty on display for all to see this weekend.
And the best men’s amateur players from GB&I and the United States battled one of the great Ross venues, hard by the Atlantic Ocean in Juno Beach, Fla., and each other all weekend. It is so much more than a golf tournament. It’s a celebration of the game and you sense that if you’re there as I was 12 years ago at Merion Golf Club’s East Course in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township.
They kept score, of course, and when Texas junior Cole Hammer, No. 14 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, closed out 18-year-old Englishman Ben Schmidt with a 4 and 3 victory, the United States had the 13 points it needed to retain the Walker Cup it had won two years ago at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.
The final tally was a 14-12 victory for the United States, a testament to the stunning array of talent this country produces year after year after year. But the margin of victory was also a testament to the gritty match-play prowess displayed by the visitors from across the pond, although, truth be told, a bunch of the GB&I guys are going to be teeing it up in NCAA regionals right alongside their United States counterparts when the college postseason heats up in earnest May 17.
But the Walker Cup remains more than just the final score. It is the players, it is the history, it is the golf courses, it is the tradition all wrapped up in one. It is the way the players, past and present, cherish the experience.
Hammer had to settle for a half in his morning foursome match as he and partner Davis Thompson, a senior at Georgia and No. 3 in the WAGR, were deadlocked by Englishman Angus Flanagan, a senior at Minnesota and No. 42 in the WAGR and Schmidt, who is No. 33 in the WAGR.
U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby was taking no chances in Sunday afternoon’s singles. Crosby put two of his three returning players from his winning side at Royal Liverpool, Hammer and Stewart Hagestad, the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion at Stonewall and No. 17 in the WAGR, in the final two spots in his singles lineup, just in case.
And both delivered, securing the final two points for the United States, Hammer with his victory over Schmidt and Hagestad with a 4 and 2 win over 21-year-old Englishman Ben Jones.
For those of us who watched Hagestad rally from 4-down with five holes to play to win the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am at Stonewall, it was vintage Hagestad. Seeming to struggle with the putter early against Jones, when Hagestad finally saw one drop, they all started to go in. Hagestad went from 1-down to 4-up by winning five straight holes, starting at the ninth.
Crosby also got a strong opening salvo at the top of his lineup, particularly from Oklahoma State junior Austin Eckroat, No. 11 in the WAGR. Eckroat quickly put a U.S. point on the board with a 7 and 6 dismantling over Irishman Mark Power, a sophomore at Wake Forest and No. 29 in the WAGR.
Hammer’s Texas teammate, Pierceson Coody, a junior from Plano, Texas and No. 2 in the WAGR, added a 3 and 1 victory over England’s Alex Fitzpatrick, Power’s Wake Forest teammate and No. 12 in the WAGR.
In between, though, GB&I more than held its own against the talented Americans.
Englishman Joe Long, winner of The Amateur Championship late last summer at Royal Birkdale, was finally recovered enough from the stomach virus that struck players from both teams to get out on the golf course and claimed a 1-up decision over John Pak, a Florida State senior and No. 4 in the WAGR. Pak was the third U.S. veteran of the victory in 2019 at Royal Liverpool.
England’s Matty Lamb earned a 2-up win over Georgia’s Thompson. England’s Barclay Brown, a sophomore at Stanford, battled Oklahoma’s Quade Cummins, a redshirt senior and No. 16 in the WAGR, to a draw. England’s Angus Flanagan, a senior at Minnesota and No. 42 in the WAGR, edged Pepperdine’s William Mouw, a sophomore and No. 34 in the WAGR, 1-up.
And England’s Jack Dyer edged Tyler Strafaci, the former Georgia Tech standout and winner of the U.S. Amateur last summer at Bandon Dunes, 1-up.
Like GB&I’s Jones, Strafaci didn’t get on the course until Sunday as he was also hit hard by the stomach virus that afflicted players from both teams.
Crosby tried matching his two USGA champions, Hagestad and Strafaci, in the foursomes earlier in the day, but Lamb and Dyer rolled to a 6 and 5 decision.
The United States only got one full point out of the Sunday morning foursomes as talented Florida sophomore Ricky Castillo, No. 10 in the WAGR, and Mouw teamed up for a 1-up victory over Fitzpatrick and Brown.
Castillo was the only American to finish with a perfect 4-0 mark as he stopped any momentum GB&I was starting to gather with a 2 and 1 victory over Ireland’s John Murphy. To watch Castillo play is to become a fan. I’ve run into people who saw him play in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. and have made it a point to keep up with his career ever since.
This Walker Cup was special for many reasons. Chief among them was Seminole itself. The club’s intensely private membership let us in to see their spectacular golf course and the players couldn’t have been more thankful for the opportunity to play such an important event on such an iconic layout.
It was special that it was in May, the first time a Walker Cup was staged on American soil in the spring. Rather than distract from the college postseason, I suspect this May Walker Cup will turn into a springboard for some of its participants in the NCAA regionals and the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale Ariz., particularly those whose teams are among the last eight still standing for match play.
This Walker Cup will also be special for its appearance in the timeline of the coronavirus pandemic. This time last year, there was only fear and uncertainty as day after day we realized the impact this virus was going to have on our every-day lives.
There are still rough times ahead, but this Walker Cup, played as it was originally scheduled in May of 2021, was a signpost of progress, an international sporting event played with fans, as the world slowly re-emerges from some very, very dark days.
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