Everything you need to know: 49th Walker Cup at St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The Home of Golf, St. Andrews’ Old Course, is ready to host its ninth Walker Cup this weekend when Great Britain and Ireland welcomes a loaded U.S. squad, which is looking to win its fourth straight match.

The Old Course first hosted the Walker Cup exactly 100 years ago. That was just the second official edition of what is now a biennial team match-play event between the two 10-man sides. The Americans won that year by a point, 6.5-5.5, as they rallied from a 3-1 deficit after the foursomes session (there were just two sessions back then, four foursomes the first day and eight singles matches the second day).

The U.S. won despite Jess Sweetser, who a year prior had waxed Bobby Jones, 8 and 7, in the final of the U.S. Amateur, and Francis Ouimet, the 1913 U.S. Open champ, not earning a single point. Ouimet, though, delivered a clutch halve (no half-points were awarded at the time), rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt despite being stymied by competitor Roger Wethered. With five singles wins, the U.S. were able squeak out what would be the second of nine straight Walker Cup wins to open the series.

GB&I won its first Walker Cup in 1938 … at St. Andrews, which also hosted in 1926 (U.S.), 1934 (U.S.), 1947 (U.S.), 1955 (U.S.), 1971 (GB&I) and 1975 (U.S.).

The Walker Cup has delivered so many great moments in this sport, and this year’s 49th edition certainly has potential to add to the list. Here is everything you need to know to get ready for this weekend’s Walker Cup at St. Andrews:

Course

St. Andrews Golf Links (Old Course), St. Andrews, Scotland
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,313 yards
Course rating/slope: 73.4/136

Teams

Listed in order of World Amateur Golf Ranking with college affiliation in parentheses

United States

• 1 – Gordon Sargent, 20, Birmingham, Alabama (Vanderbilt)
• 4 – David Ford, 20, Peachtree Corners, Georgia (North Carolina)
• 5 – Nick Dunlap, 19, Huntsville, Alabama (Alabama)
• 6 – Dylan Menante, 22, Carlsbad, California (North Carolina)
• 7 – Ben James, 19, Milford, Connecticut (Virginia)
• 8 – Caleb Surratt, 19, Indian Trail, North Carolina
• 9 – Austin Greaser, 21, Vandalia, Ohio (North Carolina)
• 10 – Nick Gabrelcik, 21, Trinity, Florida (North Florida)
• 14 – Preston Summerhays, 21, Scottsdale, Arizona
• 18 – Stewart Hagestad***, 32, Newport Beach, California (USC grad)
• Captain: Mike McCoy, Des Moines, Iowa

Great Britain and Ireland

• 13 – John Gough, 24, England (Charlotte grad)
• 26 – Barclay Brown*, 22, England (Stanford)
• 31 – Calum Scott, 20, Scotland (Texas Tech)
• 53 – Matthew McClean, 30, Ireland
• 70 – James Ashfield, 22, Wales
• 90 – Jack Bigham, 19, England (Florida State)
• 97 – Mark Power*, 23, Ireland (Wake Forest grad)*
• 140 – Liam Nolan, 23, Ireland
• 144 – Alex Maguire, 22, Ireland
• 210 – Connor Graham, 16, Scotland
• Captain: Stuart Wilson

*-represents a previous Walker Cup appearance

Schedule

• Friday – Opening ceremony, noon ET
• Saturday – Foursomes (four matches), 3:30 a.m. ET; Singles (eight matches), 8:45 a.m. ET
• Sunday – Foursomes (four matches), 3 a.m.; Singles (10 matches), 8:15 a.m. ET; Closing ceremony, 2 p.m. ET

How to watch

• Saturday – Golf Channel, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. ET
• Sunday – Golf Channel, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. ET