On paper, the United States was the better team. Having five out of the top six players in the R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking, it seemed like it wasn’t even going to be a competition. But the Great Britain & Ireland team had other thoughts. They pulled off the unthinkable and defeated the United States team 14-12 at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club this past Sunday in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Saturday morning foursomes playing alternate shot were off at 9 a.m. The most notable pairing going off was Englishman Tom Lewis, who held an 18-hole lead at the 2011 Open Championship with a 65, teamed with Michael Stewart against 2010 U.S. Amateur Champion Peter Uihlein and 2011 Nationwide Tour winner Harris English. But as in this match and the rest of the morning foursomes, GB&I were off to a hot start with a 3-1 advantage. The only American team getting a point on the board was Patrick Cantlay and Chris Williams.
The stormy weather moved in and the rain started to come down during the afternoon single matches. But it was the Americans who could handle the weather and do some damage. Uihlein got his revenge on Lewis by beating him 2&1. While incoming Texas freshman Jordan Spieth got his revenge on Jack Senior and won 3&2 (The two played against each other in this years U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills where Senior defeated Spieth in the quarterfinals, 1 up). It seemed like the momentum was changing and the Americans were gaining ground in the points. At days rest, the score was 7-5, GB&I.
Sunday was a big day for the Americans, not only on the golf course, but also in the world. It was 9/11, the 10th anniversary of the terrorists attacks against the U.S. In honor of this special occasion, U.S. Captain Jim Holtgrieve made 9/11 hats for the singles matches on Sunday. Former President G.W. Bush wrote Holtgrieve and the team a note thanking them for representing their country on this day. The team was fired up and ready to play for the day. On the other hand, GB&I knew the Americans would come out firing, and they were ready for it.
Unfortunately, the Americans did not come out the way they wanted to. First of all, the wind had to have some effect on the players. The front nine plays away from the clubhouse meaning the wind would be going in that direction, with them. As the back nine plays coming back into the clubhouse, so the wind would be against them. So many shots were put over the green on the front side and a lot were left short hitting back into the wind on the back. No player could control their shot, and it was especially hard during alternate shot, as you could tell in Uihlein’s face. The only good part that came out of the morning foursomes were the young guns of Spieth and Patrick Rodgers coming from behind to halve their match against GB&I’s tough twosome in Lewis and Stewart. Other than that, nothing came out of the morning. The Americans were down 10.5 – 5.5 heading into the last round.
It was GB&I’s Walker Cup to win and the United States’ to lose. The Americans put up a good fight as they won the singles session 6.5 – 3.5. Recent Georgia graduate Russell Henley won the first singles match of the afternoon against Lewis to give the Americans some momentum. Spieth won another match, Uihlein came back to win his match against 2009 Walker Cup standout Stiggy Hodgson. It seemed like the Americans could possibly pull off the come back, but then Senior sank a 35-footer on 18 to halve the match with mid-amateur Nathan Smith and Rhys Pugh put away 2011 U.S. Amateur Champion Kelley Kraft 2&1. And by the time all the other matches had ended, it was when GB&I’s Paul Cutler who was dormie four over world No. 1 Cantlay, which sealed the deal that the Walker Cup was standing in Europe for the next two years.
Spieth was the only American to go undefeated 2-0-1. After text messages were sent back and forth between Uihlein and Smith being playing partners, Holtgrieve split them up to get ‘Walker Cup experience with the inexperienced players.’ Well, it didn’t work out as Uihlein went 0-2 and Smith went 0-1 during foursomes. It might have been more beneficial if they were together the second round of foursomes. Finally, a disappointing Walker Cup performance by U.S. Amateur Champion Kraft by going 0-4. Just two weeks ago, Kraft had to win seven matches, through one of the best fields ever at a U.S. Amateur to claim his title.
Overall, attending the Walker Cup in Scotland was a once in a lifetime experience. The course was impeccable. It seemed like it was in great shape and it truly put these amateurs through a tough test. Though I do have one complaint about how the course was set up for spectators and fans. It was a very hard walking course with a lot of places and times spectators couldn’t walk. Other than that, it was awesome. Speaking of spectators and fans, they were amazing. I obviously knew everyone besides the American families and friends, they would be cheering for Great Britain and Ireland, which was true, but they did it with such manor. So many people attended the event, as I have never seen so many people come out to watch amateurs play. But since Scotland is the ‘Home of Golf,’ I am glad they had the turn out they did. Scotland was a gracious host both on the golf course and off. If you ever get a chance to go, I recommend you do. Congrats to both the American and Great Britain and Ireland teams, as you represented your countries proudly.
The next Walker Cup will be held in 2013 at the National Golf Link of America, the site of the first Walker Cup match in 1922 on Long Island in Southampton, New York.
