North golf fans asked to support Walker Cup
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IN the same way that north golf fans gave their support to the Barclays Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in July, these same supporters are being asked to head east next weekend to get behind the amateur golfers of Great Britain and Ireland who over Royal Aberdeen’s Balgownie Links, are attempting to end a six-year tenure of their American counterparts of the Walker Cup.
The 10-strong Great Britain and Ireland squad can take inspiration from the last time the biennial fixture against America was played in Scotland.
At the Nairn Links in 1999, a star-studded team that included now global stars Luke Donald, Paul Casey and Simon Dyson, defeated the Americans 15-9 to kickstart what was three consecutive wins for Great Britain and Ireland.
One of these wins and the only the second-ever achieved on American soil came two years later in 2001 followed by a retention of the cup at Ganton in 2003.
From the first official match played over the Long Island Golf course, New York, in 1922, however, the American teams have racked up 47 wins to only seven from Great Britain and Ireland.
After relinquishing the cup back to America in 2005 at Chicago, the American team were back on a three series-winning run, that continued at Royal County Down in 2007, followed at Merion in 2009.
The players charged with trying to release the American grip on the trophy are Steven Brown (Wentworth), Stiggy Hodgson (Sunningdale), Tom Lewis (Welyn Garden City), Jack Senior (Heysham), Andy Sullivan (Nuneaton), Paul Cutler (Portstewart), Alan Dunbar (Rathmore), Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan), Michael Stewart (Troon Welbreck) and James Byrne (Banchory). The team captain is Nigel Edwards.
The north-east fraternity are disappointed they have only one player to support after local Hazelhead member David Law was only named as a reserve especially as the reigning Scottish national champion is currently standing much higher in the world rankings than Irishman Dunbar.
The format at Royal Aberdeen for the two-day event, which starts on Saturday 10th September, is morning foursomes each day followed by eight head-to-head singles in the afternoons.
