Day 1 – Walker Cup

199. 2026 Walker Cup – Day 1 Report

5th September 2026

DAY 1 REPORT

Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) edged the opening day of the 51st Walker Cup match at Lahinch G.C., earning a 6½ – 5½ lead against the United States of America (USA).

It is the eleventh time that GB&I have led the Walker Cup at the end of Day 1. However, they have only been able to convert the previous ten leads into match wins on five occasions (1938, 1989, 1995, 2011 and 2015).

Niall Sheils Donegan led GB&I with two wins and was ably supported by Stuart Grehan and Eliot Baker who contributed 1.5 points each on Day 1.

Ethan Fang delivered 1.5 points for the USA with Stewart Hagestad and William Jennings both entered the fray successfully with wins in the afternoon Singles series for the visitors.

Speaking at the close of play GB&I captain Dean Robertson said “To be ahead, we’re thrilled at that. Last year we had the great foursomes session in the morning at Cypress Point and got turned over. This time we’re going ahead tomorrow.”

“So we’re under no illusions. It’s going to be extremely challenging. But I think the weather is going to play a factor as well tomorrow, so everybody will have to be on their mettle and it’s going to be a tough day. The US team went to 10 in the singles, have always had that depth, but we’ve got depth and confidence in our preparation as well, so we’re ready for tomorrow and looking forward to it.”

USA captain Nathan Smith said “We need to come out, play well in the morning session and then you got ten points in the afternoon. So we need to be ready to play. We feel good about how we played today. Some great golf out there and still feel good about a lot of our pairings. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.

“A lot of these matches, it seems like the last how many Walker Cups have kind of started like this. I think probably both teams probably feel good about where they are at and just going to go play for it tomorrow.”

SATURDAY FOURSOMES (6,777 yards)

The Saturday Foursomes draw was announced at the Opening Ceremony on Friday evening with play commencing at Lahinch at 8.30am.

Dean Robertson, GB&I captain, chose not to select Ben Bolton and U.S. Amateur champion Jake Whaley for this session whilst Nathan Smith, USA captain, rested Stewart Hagestad and William Jennings.

GB&I reprised two of their 2025 Cypress Point foursome pairings, Stuart Grehan & Eliot Baker and Connor Graham and Tyler Weaver.

In an entertaining start to the match three of the four Foursomes games required all 18 holes to be played. In the end GB&I took the session 2.5 – 1.5 with their two experienced pairings contributing 1.5 of these points.

It is the third consecutive match where GB&I have taken an early lead against USA. In 2023 at St Andrews and 2025 at Cypress Point they led by 3.0 – 1.0. In fact USA haven’t won an opening Foursomes session since 2009 (3.0 – 1.0).

1. Stuart Grehan & Eliot Baker v. Preston Stout & Ethan Fang

Stuart Grehan and Eliot Baker gained a half point for GB&I against world number one Preston Stout and Ethan Fang after the 2025 Amateur Champion pushed his par putt for USA wide on the 18th.

2. Connor Graham & Tyler Weaver v. Jay Leng Jr & Kihei Akina

Connor Graham and Tyler Weaver won a high quality match against Jay Leng Jr and Kihei Akina thanks largely to an unbelievable putting display by the Scotsman.

3. Luke Poulter & Sam Easterbrook v. Miles Russel & Tyler Watts

Luke Poulter and Sam Easterbrook fought back well from being 3Down with 8 holes to play to take the left-handed pairing of Miles Russell and Tyler Watts to the final hole. Russell won the day with a clutch birdie putt which Easterbrook nearly matched but just lipped out.

4. Niall Sheils Donegan & Josh Hill v. Josiah Gilbert & Ryder Cowan

Niall Sheils Donegan and Josh Hill delivered a convincing 4&3 win against Josiah Gilbert and Ryder Cowan in the final game. The GB&I pairing took the lead on the 3rd hole and built on it nicely as the American pairing were unable to get anything going in a disappointing performance.

Session Score: GB&I 2.5 – 1.5 USA

SATURDAY SINGLES (6,796 yards)

With only eight Singles being played on Day 1 two players from each team had to miss the afternoon series.

Captain Robertson dropped Sam Easterbrook and Josh Hill from his GB&I line up giving Ben Bolton and Jake Whaley their debuts. Nathan Smith left Kihei Akina and Ryder Cowan out introducing experienced Stewart Hagestad and William Jennings to his team.

After USA started the session strongly GB&I delivered three late wins to ensure the session was halved 4.0 – 4.0.

1. Stuart Grehan v. Preston Stout

Home favourite Stuart Grehan called upon all of his experience to produce an outstanding display battling back to win his game against a stunned Preston Stout on the last with a birdie four.

2. Jack Whaley v. Ethan Fang

In an up and down game Ethan Fang got the better of Jack Whaley by 1 Hole. Whaley, having battled back superbly from a hot start by his opponent, will be disappointed with his play over the closing holes which led to at least a half point slipping away from the hosts.

3. Connor Graham v. William Jennings

William Jennings showed his class this afternoon with a solid 1 Hole win against GB&I’s Connor Graham. Given the number of lengthy putts he holed today it seems unfair to suggest that Graham will be reflecting on a few short misses on the back nine but ultimately they cost him a second win on Day 1.

4. Tyler Weaver v. Jay Leng Jr

Tyler Weaver, understandably not as competitively sharp as he would like due to his recent five month injury lay, just came up short against an in form Jay Leng Jr.

5. Ben Bolton v. Stewart Hagestad

Stewart Hagestad extended his impressive Walker Cup singles record to eight wins with a 2&1 victory over Ben Bolton. Timely birdies at the par-3 11th and shortly afterwards at the 13th swung the match in favour of the tall American.

6. Luke Poulter v. Miles Russell

Luke Poulter got revenge for his late foursomes loss earlier in the day with a good win against Miles Russell. The Florida-based Englishman notched five birdies as he took the game on the 17th green.

7. Niall Sheils Donegan v. Tyler Watts

After a good Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point last year Niall Sheils Donegan continues to impress in the match. He notched his second win of the day against World No. 2 Tyler Watts; his short game and consistency too much for the American to handle.

8. Eliot Baker v. Josiah Gilbert

Eliot Baker completed a fine tail end performance from GB&I with a solid 3&2 win against Josiah Gilbert who was unable to muster much resistance.

Session Score: GB&I 4.0 – 4.0 USA

Day 1 Score: GB&I 6.5 – 5.5 USA

Here is my summary of the Day 1 Individual Performances: –

All of the scorecard graphics shown above are courtesy of The R&A / Golfbox Scoring.

ME.

188. 2025 Walker Cup – Day 1 Report

Saturday 6th September 2025

DAY 1 REPORT

The opening day of the 50th Walker Cup got off to a cloudy start before the sun broke through and a near perfect day for golf emerged.

The USA team knew that they needed 13 points to retain the Walker Cup but set out on Saturday morning expecting to easily accumulate the 13.5 points that either side requires to secure an outright victory.

It took the morning Foursomes, which GB&I won 3.0-1.0, for them to realise that this was unlikely to be the walkover that some commentators had predicted before a ball had been struck.

Nevertheless a strong bounce back in the afternoon Singles, which USA won 5.5-2.5, will see the favourites take a 1.0 point lead in to the final day at Cypress Point Club.

SATURDAY FOURSOMES

As is becoming the norm Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) got off to a fast start in the opening Foursomes securing a 3.0-1.0 advantage over their hosts.

USA has won eight of the last ten Walker Cup matches but only won one opening Foursomes series in that 20 year timeframe.

Captain Nathan Smith benched Mason Howell and Jacob Modleski whilst GB&I rested Niall Shiels Donegan and Gavin Tiernan.

Having been unbeaten – P8 W6 L0 H2 – in Foursomes at the recent St. Andrews Trophy match against Continent of Europe in Madrid it was no surprise to see captain Dean Robertson go with the same pairings for Saturday’s opening session. His loyalty was amply rewarded.

“It’s been a good morning”, Robertson said. “We’re under absolutely no illusions as to the task at hand. The goal is 13.5 points, we have three, so we’ve got 10.5 to go now.”

1. Jackson Koivun & Tommy Morrison v. Connor Graham & Tyler Weaver
Conor Graham and Tyler Weaver were superb in the opening game producing eight genuine foursomes birdies in the 17 holes they required to take down World No. 1 Jackson Kuivon and Tommy Morrison. Three birdie hole wins in a row on the 13th, 14th and 15th turned the game their way.

2. Stewart Hagestad & Ben James v. Charlie Forster & Luke Poulter
Charlie Forster and Luke Poulter also made a fast start seizing the advantage early in their match against Stewart Hagestad and Ben James, who had both represented USA in 2023 at St. Andrews. James had a poor morning with the putter which stopped USA gaining any momentum and the English pair saw out the game with relative ease.

3. Ethan Fang & Preston Stout v. Eliot Baker & Stuart Grehan
In the tightest of the four games the experienced GB&I pair of Eliot Baker and Stuart Grehan showed great composure and no shortage of skill to hold on to a narrow 1 Hole victory against the Amateur champion Ethan Fang and his Oklahoma State college teammate Preston Stout. Grehan’s clutch tee shot on the short 15th and Baker’s delicate pitch on the 18th were the late highlights that secured this valuable point for GB&I.

4. Michael La Sasso & Jase Summy v. Cameron Adam & Dominic Clemons
Michael La Sasso and Jase Summy easily saw off a battling but at times out of sorts Cameron Adam and Dominic Clemons in the final game of the session. A double bogey and five bogeys by the GB&I pair meant their American opponents were able to win way to many holes with pars.

Session Score: USA 1.0 – 3.0 GB&I

SATURDAY SINGLES

With only eight Singles being played two players from each team had to miss out on the afternoon series. 2025 NCAA Individual champion Michael La Sasso and Tommy Morrison did so for USA whilst Cameron Adam and Dominic Clemons were the unlucky pair for GB&I.

The Day 1 line ups were submitted on Friday afternoon and therefore neither captain could reflect on the Foursomes performances that preceded this session when deciding who to leave out. With the benefit of hindsight Dean Robertson came out of this arrangement better than Nathan Smith as I am sure he would not have changed his decisions whereas the American may well have done.

Despite this USA bounced back superbly in the afternoon to wrestle back control of the match.

US won five of the eight games contested, three of them comprehensively, and in doing so delivered a psychological blow which the underdogs will do well to recover from on Sunday.

Having only won twice before in the States GB&I will certainly need a repeat of today’s Foursomes performance to have any chance tomorrow when they will have to negotiate another 10 Singles. One positive omen is that the last time GB&I won in 2001 they trailed 6.5-5.5 at the end of Day 1.

Speaking afterwards GB&I captain Dean Robertson said “We just fell short on a few putts and things went the other way. If we’d holed a couple more, things might be a little bit different. I’m slightly disappointed that we are one point behind. I’m exceptionally proud of the way the team performed.”

USA captain Nathan Smith said “I can’t really say there was much of a message (after the morning Foursomes). I think the guys knew what they had to do. There were a lot of points out there this afternoon. We just knew we had to have a good session and they delivered.”

1. Jackson Koivun v. Tyler Weaver
Jackson Koivun took revenge on Tyler Weaver for his morning Foursomes loss. The World No. 1 was in scintillating form playing the front nine in 30/31 shots and whilst Weaver didn’t do much wrong he ended up being blown away by 4&3.

2. Jacob Modleski v. Niall Shiels Donegan
A final hole 1Up win for Niall Shiels Donegan – who would have guessed ? In a trade mark roller coaster performance, which included three birdies and three bogeys, the Scotsman wrong footed Jacob Modleski before gutting it out down the home stretch for a valuable point for GB&I. Shiels Donegan also beat Modleski in the U.S. Amateur Quarter Finals on the 19th hole just three weeks ago.

3. Mason Howell v. Luke Poulter
U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell made a mockery of his non-selection for the earlier Foursomes, in a seven birdie win over Luke Poulter. The loss was a little hard on Poulter who, despite an opening bogey 5, would have been very competitive with his scorecard against most of the other Americans in the afternoon series.

4. Ben James v. Connor Graham
Three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th helped Conor Graham to a 3&2 victory against Ben James. It was Graham’s second win of the day and despite bogeys on 8 and 9, which gave James some encouragement, he is increasingly looking like a star in the making. Small in stature but big in heart.

5. Stewart Hagestad v. Gavin Tiernan
Five-time Walker Cupper Stewart Hagestad, 34, was at his imperious best in the afternoon reeling off six birdies in a 7&5 thrashing of Ireland’s Gavin Tiernan. Whilst debutant Tiernan didn’t give too many holes away we know that stringing pars together is simply not going to be good enough for victories around this short course. This was mid-amateur Hagestad’s sixth singles win in seven games.

6. Ethan Fang v. Stuart Grehan
The Amateur champion Ethan Fang and re-instated Irish amateur Stuart Grehan played out an entertaining and very competitive half in Game 6 where neither player could break away from the other. Par golf was seemingly the order of the day with few mistakes being made. Grehan had an opportunity to win it on the 18th hole but couldn’t get his tricky downhill six foot putt to drop.

7. Preston Stout v. Charlie Forster
Preston Stout produced six match play birdies on his way to a comfortable 6&5 win against Charlie Forster. Stout’s excellent play and overall consistency was too much for Forster who bogeyed four of the 13 holes they played.

8. Jase Summy v. Eliot Baker
Jase Summy maintained his 100% win record, the only player on the USA side who can claim this, in a crucial win for USA. 1Down with three holes to play he benefitted from two late bogeys from Devonian Eliot Baker, on 16 and 18, to turn his match around. Stout holed an uphill four footer for his crucial par on the 18th after Baker had lipped out from 15 feet for his. It goes without saying that GB&I would have felt so much better going into Sunday if Baker could have held on for a win or even tied this match.

Session Score: USA 5.5 – 2.5 GB&I

Day 1 Score: USA 6.5 – 5.5 GB&I

Click here to view the – Walker Cup Scoreboard

Here is my summary of the Day 1 Individual Performances: –

All of the scorecards shown above are courtesy of the USGA / CISCO Scoring.

ME.