The Walker Cup was first played for in 1922 at the C.B. MacDonald designed National Golf Links of America and is an amateur contest in which the finest players representing Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) and the United States compete against each other and has provided a stage for generations of outstanding amateurs. The now biennial event was originally an annual event for the first three years until 1926 at St. Andrews and 2026 is the first year that the gap has been only one year since 1924.
Ireland has played host to the Walker Cup in 1991 at Portmarnock, to mark the centenary celebrations of the Golfing Union of Ireland, Royal County Down (2007) and, the Alister MacKenzie designed, Lahinch (2026). In 2015 in Royal Lytham & St. Annes a record five Irish players were selected for the ten-man GB&I team and Joe B. Carr holds the record for most matches (10) played. The Walker Cup is hosted by the most hallowed stretches of turf in golf and the honour of staging the event is coveted as much as a players participating in the event.
The Walker Cup at Lahinch will be the fifty-first staging of the event and the record for the previous fifty matches is United States 50 and Great Britain and Ireland 9 with a half at the Baltimore Country Club (1965) when Joe Carr captained the team. Joe Carr also captained the team at Royal St. George’s (1967) and Garth McGimpsey was the only other Irish captain in 2003 (Ganton) and 2005 (Chicago). Only two GB&I victories took place in the United States at the Ocean Forest Golf Club (1965) and Peachtree Golf Club (1989).
Click here for the history of Irish participation in the Walker Cup through the years.
The team captains are Dean Robertson for GB&I and Nathan Smith for the United States.
GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND 13.5 UNITED STATES 12.5
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