10th July 2023
The R&A have announced that Lahinch Golf Club, located on the west coast of Ireland, will host the 51st Walker Cup match on 5th-6th September 2026.
The biennial match is moving to even years from 2026 so that it is not held in the same year as the World Amateur Team Championships. It will therefore follow on quickly from the 2025 contest being played at Cypress Point G.C. in California.
It will be the third occasion that the match has been played in Ireland with Lahinch following in the footsteps of Portmarnock (1991) and Royal County Down (2007).
The choice of Lahinch by the R&A ties in nicely with the rumours surrounding Paul McGinley as a likely future GB&I Walker Cup captain.
Lahinch Golf Club (Photo: Lahinch G.C.)
The famous links course was originally laid out by Old Tom Morris before Dr. Alistair Mackenzie re-designed it solely in the sandhills in 1926/27. Dr. Matin Hawtree completed a sympathetic restoration in the early 2000’s to bring it fully up to date.
Lahinch is the long standing home of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship which has been played annually since 1895. As such it is well known to the Irish amateur golfing community.
More recently it hosted the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in 2019, an event won by Spain’s John Rahm. This Championship was hosted for the DP World Tour by McGinley.
As a precursor the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup match between a mixed team of International and USA collegiate golfers is also being played at Lahinch.
Phil Anderton, Chief Development Officer at The R&A, said, “Lahinch is widely regarded as being one of the finest links courses in Ireland and so there will be great excitement at the prospect of the Walker Cup being played there for the very first time.
“Whenever we have staged a championship or international match on the island of Ireland, we have always been fortunate to have Irish fans turn out in great numbers to support the competing golfers and generate a fantastic atmosphere.
“We look forward to enjoying another special occasion in 2026 when many of the world’s best men’s amateur golfers will represent Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America to compete for this historic trophy.”
Click here to read The R&A Announcement – ‘The 51st Walker Cup Match to be played at Lahinch in 2026’
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