2019 – Royal Liverpool

September 7-8, 2019
Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England
7,290 yards, Par 71

Captains: Craig Watson (GB&I) and Nathaniel Crosby (USA)

Day 1 Foursomes (GB&I players first)
Alex Fitzpatrick / Conor Purcell beat John Augenstein / Andy Ogletree 2&1
Sandy Scott / Euan Walker lost to John Pak / Isaiah Salinda 2&1
Harry Hall / Conor Gough beat Stewart Hagestad / Akshay Bhatia 2&1
Tom Sloman / Thomas Plumb lost to Brandon Wu / Alex Smalley 2&1
GB&I 2.0 – USA 2.0

Day 1 Singles
Alex Fitzpatrick beat Cole Hammer by 2 Holes
Euan Walker beat Steven Fisk by 2 Holes
Sandy Scott beat Andy Ogletree by 1 Hole
Conor Purcell lost to John Augenstein by 2&1
James Sugrue lost to John Pak by 1 Hole
Conor Gough beat Isaiah Salinda by 2 Holes
Caolan Rafferty beat Alex Smalley by 2&1
Tom Sloman lost to Brandon Wu by 4&2
GB&I 5.0 – USA 3.0

Day 1: GB&I 7.0 – USA 5.0

Day 2 Foursomes
Alex Fitzpatrick / Conor Purcell lost to Brandon Wu / Alex Smalley 2&1
Sandy Scott / Euan Walker halved with John Augenstein / Andy Ogletree
Harry Hall / Conor Gough lost to Stewart Hagestad / Akshay Bhatia 3&2
Tom Sloman / Thomas Plumb beat Cole Hammer / Steven Fisk 5&3
GB&I 1.5 – USA 2.5

Day 2 Singles
Alex Fitzpatrick lost to Isaiah Salinda by 2 Holes
Euan Walker lost to John Pak by 2&1
Sandy Scott beat Brandon Wu 4&3
Caolan Rafferty lost to Alex Smalley by 2&1
Harry Hall lost to Stewart Hagestad by 5&3
Conor Gough lost to Andy Ogletree by 2&1
Thomas Plumb lost to John Augenstein by 4&3
James Sugrue lost to Akshay Bhatia by 4&2
Conor Purcell lost to Cole Hammer by 6&5
Tom Sloman beat Steven Fisk by 2 Holes
GB&I 2.0 – USA 8.0

Day 2: GB&I 3.5 – USA 10.5

Match Result: GB&I 10.5 – USA 15.5

Series Results: USA 37 – GB&I 9 – Halved 1 (after Match 47) 

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USA Team (Photo: GolfBible)

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Players

GB&I Team

Alex FITZPATRICK (20) – Hallamshire, England
Conor GOUGH (17) – Stoke Park, England
Harry HALL (22) – West Cornwall, England
Thomas PLUMB (20) – Yeovil, England
Conor PURCELL (22) – Portmarnock, Ireland
Caolan RAFFERTY (26) – Dundalk, Ireland
Sandy SCOTT (21) – Nairn, Scotland
Tom SLOMAN (23) – Taunton & Pickeridge, England
James SUGRUE (22) – Mallow, Ireland
Euan WALKER (24) – Kilmarnock (Barassie), Scotland

The 2019 GB&I Team (Photo: The R&A)

USA Team

John AUGENSTEIN (21) – Owensboro, Kentucky
Akshay BHATIA (17) – Wake Forest, North Carolina
Steven FISK (22) – Stockbridge, Georgia
Stewart HAGESTAD (28) – Newport Beach, California
Cole HAMMER (19) – Houston, Texas
Andy OGLETREE (21) – Little Rock, Mississippi
John PAK (20) – Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Isaiah SALINDA (22) – South San Francisco, California
Alex SMALLEY (22) – Greensboro, North Carolina
Brandon WU (22) – Scarsdale, New York

U.S.A. Walker Cup Team (Photo: USGA)

There is more information on how both teams came to be selected further down this page.

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USGA Videos

Day 1 Highlights

Day 2 Highlights

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Nathanial Crosby’s Closing Ceremony Poem 

You have all the talent, there’s nothing you lack
Your destined to be the next Tiger or Jack,

Your the scholarship kid, the campus hotshot,
From your winning ways, your the best of the lot,

But I ask you to pause, and search for you soul,
As your still in a kind of tiny fish bowl,

What are your goals, you must be exact,
It’s just with yourself that you make the pact,

What is it to make it, one win or twenty,
If it’s money you seek, then how much is plenty,

At the end of the day it’s only you who must care,
To set the right standards, it’s your own do or dare,

I too was a hit, an amateur hero,
I turned out to be a big time pro zero,

In the Eighties I saw success running wild,
So for a pro failure I’m a true poster child,

So please I implore you to chart out your course,
Follow your dreams but don’t have remorse,

If you goals are illusive, just limit your time,
Don’t be playing at forty on a quarter and dime,

To those that don’t make it your days still look bright,
So long as you don’t prolong a bad fight,

You’ll find a new trade, life won’t treat you too rude,
You’ll make lots of money, as the scratch golfing dude,

For the next group of heroes there’s nothing to teach,
You’ll accomplish those things well beyond others reach,

One day in the future you’ll tap Rory’s shoulder and say,
‘You played really well back in your day’,

You’ll stand up and say ‘I’ll take Koepka down’,
You’ll be anxious to say ‘I’m the new kid in town’.

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Royal Liverpool Golf Club

The R&A announced the selection of Royal Liverpool as the 2019 host course on 14th May 2013. 

Hoylake, as it is also known, hosted the 29th Walker Cup match in 1983 and was the venue for a first match between these two sides, played ahead of the Amateur Championship, in 1921.

The 2019 staging coincided with the Club’s 150th anniversary.

Royal Liverpool Golf Club (© Royal Liverpool GC)

The championship course measures 7,290 yards and has a par of 71.

Royal Liverpool G.C. Course (Photo: The R&A / Golfbox Scoring)

Speaking ahead of the match GB&I captain Craig Watson said of Royal Liverpool “I think the course is perfectly suited to match play. You’ve got that opening hole which is going to be won or lost in a lot of matches and then you’ve got two par 5’s close together near the end, when momentum can change quickly. It’s going to be perfect for the Walker Cup.”

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The 2019 GB&I Walker Cup Team Selection Process

The 2019 GB&I Team Is Selected

The R&A announced the 10 man team for the 47th Walker Cup match on Monday 19th August. The following players were selected: –

Alex FITZPATRICK – Hallamshire, England
Conor GOUGH – Stoke Park, England
Harry HALL – West Cornwall, England
Thomas PLUMB – Yeovil, England
Conor PURCELL – Portmarnock, Ireland
Caolan RAFFERTY – Dundalk, Ireland
Sandy SCOTT – Nairn, Scotland
Tom SLOMAN – Taunton & Pickeridge, England
James SUGRUE – Mallow, Ireland
Euan WALKER – Kilmarnock (Barassie), Scotland

Reserves
Benjamin SCHMIDT – Rotherham
Benjamin JONES – Northamptonshire County

Players Who Missed Out

Here is a short list of the GB&I players I believe can consider themselves unlucky to miss out based on their Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) and World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

Ben JONES (ENG) – SPWAR #19 / WAGR #39
Semi-Finalist at The Amateur Championship

Jake BURNAGE (ENG) – SPWAR #28 / WAGR #47
Winner of the St. Andrews Links Championship

Ronan MULLARNEY (IRE) – SPWAR #58 / WAGR #67
Winner of the Irish Amateur (Close)

Ben SCHMIDT (ENG) – SPWAR #116 / WAGR #8
Winner of the Brabazon Trophy and U18 Carris Trophy

SPWAR – as at 18/08/19 and including the U.S. Amateur results
WAGR – as at 14/08/19 and not including the U.S. Amateur results

GB&I captain Craig Watson said: “It has been a very difficult decision to select ten players for Great Britain and Ireland from a strong squad but we have been very impressed with the results of those we have picked and we believe they will give us the best chance of regaining the Walker Cup against a strong American team.

“The Walker Cup is a fantastic opportunity for these amateur golfers to demonstrate their talents on the big stage and it will be an experience that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We are looking forward to the match at Hoylake and I’m sure the players will give it their very best to win.”

The final selection looked particularly harsh on English pair Ben JONES and Jake BURNAGE.

The following table showed all of the GB&I players who enjoyed a Top 20 Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking or World Amateur Golf Ranking on the day of selection. As you can see Jones and Burnage both enjoyed positions in the top 10 of both of these rankings.

GB&I Squad Reduced To 16 Players

On the 22nd July 2019 The R&A announced that their initial GB&I Walker Cup Squad had been reduced to 16 players.

The following players then attended a second formal training session on 23-24 July at Royal Liverpool G.C.: –

Jake BURNAGE (ENG)
Alex FITZPATRICK (ENG)
Bailey GILL (ENG)
Harry HALL (ENG)
Ben JONES (ENG)
Matty LAMB (ENG)
David LANGLEY (ENG)
Joshua MCMAHON (ENG)
Thomas PLUMB (ENG)
Mark POWER (IRE)
Conor PURCELL (IRE)
Caolan RAFFERTY (IRE)
Sandy SCOTT (SCO)
Tom SLOMAN (ENG)
James SUGRUE (IRE)
Euan WALKER (SCO)

James Sugrue Secures His Place

On 22nd June 2019 Ireland’s James SUGRUE won The Amateur Championship at Portmarnock G.C.

As there is understandably an unwritten rule which states a home winner of The Amateur in the year of a match will be selected for the GB&I team we knew James had secured his place with this victory.

A 26 Man GB&I Squad Is Announced

On 24th April an Initial GB&I Squad of 26 players was announced: –

Jake BURNAGE – Saunton, England (23)
Kieran CANTLEY – Liberton, Scotland (21)
Ben CHAMBERLAIN – Padeswood & Buckley, Wales (21)
Archie DAVIES – Carlisle, Wales (17)
Alex FITZPATRICK – Hallamshire, England (20)
Bailey GILL – Lindrick, England (21)
Conor GOUGH – Stoke Park, England (16)
David HAGUE – Malton & Norton, England (22)
Harry HALL – West Cornwall, England (21)
Jake HAPGOOD – Southerndown, Wales (22)
Benjamin JONES – Northamptonshire County, England (19)
Ryan LUMSDEN – Royal Wimbledon, (22)
Euan MCINTOSH – Turnhouse, Scotland (50)
John MURPHY – Kinsale, Ireland (20)
Joseph PAGDIN – Lake Nona, England (17)
Thomas PLUMB – Yeovil, England (20)
Mark POWER – Kilkenny, Ireland (18)
Conor PURCELL – Portmarnock, Ireland (21)
Caolan RAFFERTY – Dundalk, Ireland (26)
Sandy SCOTT – Nairn, Scotland (20)
Tom SLOMAN – Taunton & Pickeridge, England (22)
Jamie STEWART – Old Course Ranfurly, Scotland (19)
James SUGRUE – Mallow, Ireland (22)
Tom THURLOWAY – Chartham Park, England (21)
Euan WALKER – Kilmarnock (Barassie), Scotland (23)
Robin WILLIAMS – Peterborough Milton, England (17)

A first practice session was then held on Wednesday 1st May at Royal Liverpool G.C. with 18 players attending.