1993 – Interlachen CC

USA 19 – 5 GB&I

August 18-19, 1993
Interlachen Country Club, Edina, Minnesota
6,721 yards / Par 72

Captains: Vinny Giles (USA) and George MacGregor (GB&I)

Day 1 Singles (USA players first)
Allen Doyle beat Ian Pyman 1 hole
David Berganio Jr lost to Matthew Stanford 3&2
Jay Sigel lost to Dean Robertson 3&2
Kelly Mitchum halved with Stuart Cage
Tim Herron beat Padraig Harrington 1 hole
Danny Yates III beat Paul Page
Todd Dempsey beat Raymond Russell 2&1
Justin Leonard beat Raymond Burns 4&3
Brian Gay lost to Van Phillips 2&1
John Harris beat Bradley Dredge 4&3
USA 6.5 – GB&I 3.5

Day 1: USA 6.5 – GB&I 3.5

Day 2 Foursomes 
Allen Doyle / Justin Leonard beat Iain Pyman / Stuart Cage 4&3
David Berganio Jr / Todd Dempsey beat Matthew Stanford / Padraig Harrington 3&2
Jay Sigel / Kelly Mitchum beat Bradley Dredge / Van Phillips 3&2
John Harris / Tim Herron beat Raymond Russell / Dean Robertson 1 hole
USA 4 – GB&I 0

Day 2 Singles
Allen Doyle beat Dean Robertson 4&3
John Harris beat Ian Pyman 3&2
Danny Yates III beat Stuart Cage 2&1
Brian Gay halved with Padraig Harrington
Jay Sigel beat Paul Page 5&4
Tim Herron beat Van Phillips 3&2
Kelly Mitchum beat Raymond Russell 4&2
David Berganio Jr lost to Raymond Burns 1 hole
Todd Dempsey beat Bradley Dredge 3&2
Justin Leonard beat Matthew Stanford 5&4
USA 8.5 – GB&I 1.5

Match Result: USA 19 – GB&I 5

Series Results: USA 30 – GB&I 3 – Halved 1 (after Match 34)

Interlachen Walker Cup Golf Ball

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Match Notes

The 1993 match had originally been scheduled to be played at Chicago G.C. but in 1991 it was re-assigned to Interlachen. Chicago withdrew having come under pressure from the USGA to allow minority members which they were reluctant to do at the time. In due course Chicago changed their policies and were eventually awarded the 2005 Walker Cup.

Heavy overnight rain prior to the commencement of the match led to the first morning being washed out. A revised format was adopted at the suggestion of GB&I captain George MacGregor to ensure a total of 24 points would be contested. On Day 1 foursomes were abandoned with 10 singles being played in the afternoon. Day 2 saw the normal four foursomes played in the morning with another 10 singles in the afternoon. The 10 singles games on Day 2 was only formerly introduced in 2009.

Jay Sigel became the most capped U.S.A. player competing in his ninth consecutive match in Minnesota. He would join the U.S. Senior Tour in November 1993 leaving the Walker Cup with a playing record that will never be broken – played 33, won 18, halved 5 and lost 10.

1993 Walker Cup Signed Match Poster (Photo: The Golf Auction)

The R&A selectors courted controversy by ignoring the selection claims of any older working amateurs focussing their attentions on the young full time amateurs. Dr. Neil Anderson, runner-up in that year’s Amateur, Garry Hay, who had won the 1993 St. Andrews Links Trophy and Gary Wolstenholme, 1991 Amateur champion, who all fitted into the latter category, all missed out. Anderson was named as the non-playing / travelling reserve as he had been in 1989.

England’s Lee Westwood has talked publically about missing out for GB&I in 1993. However, looking back his form seems to have peaked too late in the selection process. He won the Leven Gold Medal at the start of August, then the British Youths Championship at Glasgow Gailes by 8-shots on 12th-14th and lost in a play-off to Denmark’s Morton Backhausen at Dalmahoy in the International European Amateur Championship on 26th-29th.

U.S.A. easily beat GB&I 19 – 5. The 14 point margin of defeat was the largest in Walker Cup history and calls for the inclusion of players from Continental Europe were widespread thereafter.

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