The Walker Cup is one of the great events in golf. It is ingrained in the game’s roots and showcases the very best amateurs on the planet.
It was founded in 1921 when a team of US golfers went to Britain, aiming to win the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool. A match between US and British players was held before the Amateur started, and it was arranged by Gershom Stewart, who was the chairman at Hoylake.
Tommy Armour, Roger Wethered, William C. Fownes Jnr, Bobby Jones and Frances Ouimet were among the participants, and America won 9-3. This signified the birth of the tournament, and it is named after George Herbert Walker, who was president of the USGA in 1920. Walker was the grandfather of George H.W. Bush and the great-grandfather of George W. Bush.
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Walker Cup 2025
Venue: Cypress Point
Date: September 6-7
Walker Cup format
The Walker Cup is held over two days and uses foursomes and singles match play. The first one was held at the National Golf Links of America in 1922, which the US won 8-4.
Until 1961, 36-hole matches were played with four foursomes matches on day one and eight singles matches on day two. From 1963, 18-hole matches were played with four foursomes and singles matches on each day. In 2009, the number of singles matches was increased to 10 on day two.
The format includes 10 amateurs from Great Britain and Ireland and 10 amateurs from the USA. Each team has a captain, and players can play in the event several times, as long as they keep their amateur status.
Dean Robertson is the GB&I captain in 2025 and Nathan Smith is the US captain.
Walker Cup venues: Past and future
The Walker Cup has visited some of the best golf courses on the planet since its history of over 100 years. The Old Course at St Andrews hosted the last edition in 2023 and further back than that, we have seen these venues involved too: Seminole, Los Angeles Country Club, Royal Lytham & St Annes, Merion, Royal County Down, Chicago Golf Club, Ganton, Nairn, Royal Porthcawl, Portmarnock, Sunningdale, Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Shinnecock Hills, Muirfield.
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The list really could go on. It will return to Cypress Point in 2025, which is a private club in Pebble Beach in California. It is one of the most highly rated golf courses on the planet. From 1947 to 1990, it was used as part of the multi-course format of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
It was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter and established in 1928, not long after the establishment of the Walker Cup.
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Last Walker Cup result: 2023
USA won the 49th Walker Cup in St Andrews 14.5-11.5 despite trailing by a point heading into the second afternoon singles session. Jack Bingham and Mark Power were the only GB&I players to earn a point in the last session, whereas America won six matches.
Caleb Surratt was a winner on the day and subsequently joined LIV Golf. Nick Dunlap went on to become the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years.
Who has played on the Walker Cup?
Some of the best players to have ever picked up a golf club forged their career by playing in the Walker Cup. Tiger Woods is probably a good place to start, having played in the 1995 Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl.
Phil Mickelson played in 1991 for Team US at Portmarnock, and Rory McIlroy played in the 2007 side that lost to America at Royal County Down. In that match, Danny Willett, Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson also played.
Luke Donald played in 1999 and 2001. Padraig Harrington played three times, and Rodney Foster played in all of them between 1063 and 1975.
Going further back, the great Sir Michael Bonallack played in nine consecutive Walker Cups from 1957 to 1973, during which time he was also a playing captain.
Jo Carr played in 10 Walker Cups and might’ve played in 11, but he didn’t play in 1965. Gary Wolstenholme also played six consecutive Walker Cups between 1995 and 2005.
The likes of Jack Nicklaus, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, David Duval, Lucas Glover, Brian Harman, Scott Hoch, Tom Kite, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III are on the endless list of former Walker Cup stars.
On the GB&I side, Sandy Lyle, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Casey, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood have all competed previously.
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