Two stories are being told this week on the eastern end of Long Island. The more important is a biennial match between male amateur golfers from Great Britain/Ireland and the USA. Teams from America, professional and amateur, female and male, are on a losing streak of unthinkable proportion, most recently at the Solheim Cup in August. The Walker Cup is an opportunity to reverse the trend against a strong European side. The second story isolates a golf course that occupies a unique place in architectural history. National Golf Links of America is the crowning achievement of Charles Blair MacDonald and exemplifies a template-hole approach to design. Since it is most private, the majority of golfers have not seen it in person. The 2013 Walker Cup offers a glimpse inside the perimeter of the club.
Throughout the weekend, I’ll do my best job of relaying interesting notes and images of the event and the grounds of the club. To begin, here is a gallery of images from Friday morning, the official practice day before competition begins on Saturday.
