 elcome
to a unique website dedicated to the history of the Walker
Cup and the amateur game. We include an extensive database
of material regarding the history of golf’s finest
contest, maintain an archive of historical information about
international amateur golf and report regularly, and in depth,
on developments in the amateur game around the world.
The site, which is based on the book, The
Walker Cup, Golf’s Finest Contest, 1922-2003 by Gordon
G. Simmonds provides the only complete statistical
database of information on the Web about the Walker Cup
matches, the players, the venues, the captains and individual
records.
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NEW - The
Amateur Golfer 2009 Q2 review is now available.
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Exclusive account
by Gordon Simmonds of the 2007 match with accompanying
images by David Cannon.
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Walker Cup 2007
"Only the best venues in golf have ever had the privilege
of hosting The Walker Cup matches. The Royal County Down
Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, at last, joined
a venerable list of host clubs when its membership welcomed,
in understated style and with unconditional enthusiasm,
senior representatives of The R&A and The USGA, the
teams and supporters for the 41st contest between The United
States and Great Britain & Ireland.
All were rewarded with a wonderful match that produced
some brilliant golf ..." more
Colin Dalgleish has accepted the invitation from
The R&A to captain the GB&I team at Merion in 2009.
The 2013 Match will be played at The National Golf
Links of America.
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Exclusive account
by Gordon Simmonds of the 2005 match with accompanying
images by David Cannon.
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Walker Cup 2005
"In a complicated, often perverse world, where too
many intellectually challenged youths of monosyllabic capacity
become remote sporting icons and are paid vast fortunes
to ply their trades, purportedly in pursuit of entertainment,
it is reassuring that one event in sport played amongst
accessible, unpretentious amateurs remains intact as a
simple contest of skill, perseverance and tenacity, when
triumph and disaster are shared imposters, egos are subsumed
into team responsibility and the rewards for participation
far exceed the prize for success."
View
the entire article
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Walker Cup 2011
The 2011 Walker Cup will be played on the Balgownie Links
of Royal Aberdeen Golf Club on the north-east coast of Scotland.
Founded in 1780, the club is the world’s seventh oldest
(after The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, The Royal
and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Royal Burgess Golfing
Society, Royal Blackheath, Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society
and Royal Musselburgh). If The R&A had stayed with the ‘rotation’ of
venues in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland for home matches,
which appeared to begin in 1987, the 2011 venue should have
been somewhere in Wales. However, besides Royal Porthcawl
and, perhaps, Royal St. David’s at Harlech, there are
no venues suitable for The Walker Cup, particularly in view
of the size of the crowds now attending. That said, Balgownie
Links, where the first tee is impossible to ‘ access’ and
serious undulations make walking on the outside of the course
difficult, is not the most ideal spectator facility. Hopefully,
The R&A will limit attendance to about eight thousand
and not rope the fairways thus permitting the audience to
enjoy the matches.
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Nigel Edwards after chipping in
at the 14th on Sunday at Ganton, 2003.
(Dave Cannon Photo) |
The Walker Cup - The Cornerstone
of the Amateur Ideal
Outstanding courses, the finest hospitality
at some of the best clubs in the world, friendships for a
lifetime made and renewed by golf’s most knowledgeable
supporters, impeccable organization by the game’s governing
authorities, the USGA and the R&A, a serious forum for
discussion and resolution of the day’s main issues,
participation by outstanding golfers at the peak of their
amateur careers, a contest of excellence played with spirited
endeavor and mutual respect, untainted by commercial infractions,
where the victors and the vanquished alike earn the right
forever to the moniker, ‘a Walker Cup player’.
These are the essential ingredients that established solid
foundations for a unique sporting encounter that began in
the aftermath of the First World War, with Great Britain
and Ireland (“GB&I”) on one side and the
United States of America (“U.S.”) on the other.
They are also the elements that ensure its continued relevance,
prestige and success.
View
the entire article
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| All
images on this site reproduced courtesy of David Cannon. |
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