18th August 2026
The Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team was announced at 10.00am today by The R&A and captain Dean Robertson.
The ten golfers will play against the United States of America in the 51st Walker Cup match at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland on 5th-6th September.
Stuart GREHAN (IRL) was the first player to make the team, gaining automatic selection in June 2026 when he won the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool G.C.
In line with the stated team selection criteria Tyler WEAVER (ENG) #2, Luke POULTER (ENG) #5, Eliot BAKER (ENG) #16 and Niall SHEILS DONEGAN (SCO) #18 also earned automatic selection on the 6th August 2025 based on their World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) on that date.
Jack WHALEY (ENG) gained automatic selection on 16th August 2026 when he won the U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion G.C. It appears that the Yorkshireman was not under consideration until his historic victory brought him front and centre.
This left GB&I captain Dean Robertson with four picks. Today’s announcement confirmed that he had selected Ben BOLTON (ENG), Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG), Connor GRAHAM (SCO) and Josh HILL (ENG).
Josh Hill’s commitment to making the team and his performance at the Lahinch training camp in July, where he demonstrated the skills required to play the course in all conditions, seems to have been decisive for the selectors.
The team will therefore be made up of 7 English players, 2 Scottish and 1 Irish.
Thomas HIGGINS and David HOWARD were announced as the first and second reserves respectively. Tyler Weaver and to a lesser degree Ben Bolton have both been managing their recent workloads due to ongoing back injuries so this may prove to be important.
Dean Robertson stated in his press conference that “Tom HIGGINS would have been in the team, 100 per cent (before Whaley’s U.S. Amateur win). I would have loved to have more Irish on the team. Thomas stood up and he won the Europeans for Ireland. He makes more birdies than any of the other players in the team but he offsets that with a lot of bogeys as well. The selection I have made is a fair selection and it’s an unbiased selection.” Higgins, 23, has an impressive match play record and won the Irish Close last week.
Wales can also count themselves as being unlucky to miss out on representation in 2026 with Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Caolan BURFORD (WAL) and Sean DAVID (WAL), who won the 2026 South of Ireland at the host venue, all making reasonable claims for inclusion.
Tom OSBORNE (ENG), who appeared a lock for the team after winning both the Spanish International Amateur and Brabazon Trophy earlier this year, seemingly peaked too soon and played his way off the team when he failed to feature in the big summer events.
Six players who competed in the 2025 match at Cypress Point will be returning for GB&I, namely, Eliot Baker, Connor Graham, Stuart Grehan, Luke Poulter, Niall Sheils Donegan and Tyler Weaver. GB&I have benefitted more than USA, who only have three returning players, from the match uniquely falling just one year after the last one at Cypress Point.
Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook, Josh Hill and Jack Whaley will be making their Walker Cup debuts at Lahinch.
Dean Robertson said “It is a tremendous honour to captain Great Britain and Ireland again and I’m excited by the team we have selected for the match at Lahinch. We have a really exciting blend of players who have experienced the Walker Cup before and others who have earned their first opportunity through some excellent performances over the last year.”
“We have players who have won important championships, performed at the highest level in amateur golf and demonstrated that they can deliver results in international match play. Playing at Lahinch will make this a particularly special Walker Cup. We know there will be fantastic support for the team in Ireland and our players will be determined to give those supporters plenty to get behind. We learned a great deal from Cypress Point and everyone involved is hugely motivated by the challenge ahead.”
GB&I Walker Cup Team (Graphic: The R&A)
GB&I Player Profiles
Eliot BAKER (23) – Tiverton, England / WAGR #16
Runner-Up in the 2026 Spanish International Amateur Championship
Winner of the Individual title at the 2026 European Nations Cup at Sotogrande, helping England secure the team title.
Runner-up in the 2026 Brabazon Trophy.
Made Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point in 2025.
Led England to 2025 Men’s Home Internationals success (P6 W5 L1)
Winner of the 2025 Scottish Men’s Open Championship by 7 shots.
Winner of the 2025 Portuguese Int. Men’s Amateur Championship.
Member of the victorious 2025 GB&I St. Andrews Trophy team.
Ben BOLTON (19) – Enville, England / WAGR #92
Tied 3rd in the Lytham Trophy.
Tied 3rd in the individual standings at the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande, helping England secure the team title.
Top 10 finishes in the 2026 Portuguese International Amateur and Spanish International Amateur.
Won the 2025 Berkhamsted Trophy.
Bolton has previously played for GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.
Sam EASTERBOOK (19) – Olton, England / WAGR #80
Top-20 Individual finish at the 2026 NCAA National Championship.
First individual collegiate victory for Purdue at the 2025 Puerto Rico Classic.
Reached the quarter-finals of 2026 Amateur Championship.
Came close to securing a major championship debut through Final Qualifying for The 154th Open and the new Last-Chance Qualifier at Royal Birkdale.
Connor GRAHAM (19) – Blairgowrie, Scotland / WAGR #25
Graham, the youngest player (16) to ever compete in the match, will be making his third successive Walker Cup appearance at Lahinch.
He has recorded nine top-20 finishes in 12 events for Texas Tech in 2026.
He was also a member of the winning International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup for the second successive year.
He qualified for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush in 2025.
Graham was the leading stroke-play qualifier in both the 2024 and 2025 Amateur Championships.
Stuart GREHAN (33) – County Louth, Ireland / WAGR #24
Winner of the 2026 Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool in June.
Tied 3rd in the 2026 Irish Amateur Open, having won that title and the Irish Amateur Close following his return to amateur golf in 2025.
Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point.
Grehan played for GB&I in the 2016 and 2025 St Andrews Trophy matches.
He won the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch in 2015.
Josh HILL (22) – Fox Den (USA), England / WAGR #96
Hill, who grew up in Dubai, has impressed in his final college season at the University of Tennessee recording eight top-25 finishes in 2026.
He reached the quarter-finals of the South of Ireland Amateur at Lahinch in July.
Hill previously represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.
Luke POULTER (22) – Woburn, England / WAGR #6
Poulter will be making his second GB&I Walker Cup appearance.
A member of the winning International Team at the 2025 and 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Poulter won the 2026 NCAA Columbus Regional representing Florida.
Member of the victorious 2025 GB&I St. Andrews Trophy team.
Won the Schenkel Invitational U.S. collegiate event in 2025.
Niall SHEILS DONEGAN (28) – Meadow Club (USA), Scotland / WAGR #18
Born in Scotland and raised in California.
A member of the winning International team in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Sheils Donegan will make his second successive Walker Cup appearance at Lahinch after impressing at Cypress Point last year.
Rising senior at North Carolina after transferring from Northwestern last summer.
Semi-Finalist at the 2025 U.S. Amateur Championship. Made the Round of 32 this year.
Qualified for the knockout stages of The Amateur Championship in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
4th in the 2025 St Andrews Links Trophy.
Tyler WEAVER (21) – Bury St Edmunds, England / WAGR #2
A strong 2025/26 season for Florida State (69.58 scoring average) highlighted by his second collegiate title at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.
Worringly Weaver has not played competitively since mid-April 2026 due to injury.
Played in the 2025 U.S. Open Championship.
Unbeaten member of the victorious 2025 GB&I St. Andrews Trophy team.
Member of the International Team at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Winner of the 2025 Cabo Collegiate event.
Jack WHALEY (22) – Rotherham, England / WAGR #90
Winner of the 2026 U.S. Amateur, becoming only the third Englishman to win the Championship.
The rising Florida State senior – who spent his first two years at NAIA Dalton State College before transferring – has played well in the states this year posting four top tens
While at Dalton, he won five NAIA tournaments and won every national NAIA honour, including the Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Phil Mickelson Awards.
Reserves
Thomas HIGGINS (23) – Roscommon, Ireland / WAGR #191
David HOWARD (27) – Fota Island, Ireland / WAGR #817
ME.
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