All about the Walker Cup 2017

SCHEDULE OF PLAY    
On Saturday, Sept. 9, there will be four foursomes (alternate-shot) matches in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. On Sunday, Sept. 10, there will be four foursomes matches in the morning and 10 singles matches in the afternoon. All matches will be 18 holes.

All Times Local (PDT)

Friday, Sept. 8 (Note: All times are subject to change)
5:30 p.m.  – Opening Ceremony

Saturday, Sept. 9
7:30 a.m.-noon – Foursomes (four matches)
1-6 p.m. – Singles (eight matches)

Sunday, Sept. 10
7:30 a.m.-noon – Foursomes (four matches)
1-6 p.m. – Singles (10 matches)

US TEAM

Cameron Champ
Sacramento, Calif. (Texas A&M)
Age: 22
WAGR: 7
Buzz: After making the cut at the U.S. Open (T-32), Champ was medalist at the North and South Amateur, won the Trans-Miss Amateur, finished second at the Pacific Coast Amateur and made the semifinals of the Western Amateur.

Doug Ghim
Arlington Heights, Ill. (Texas)
Age: 21
WAGR: 7
Buzz: Placed fourth at the Northeast Amateur before winning Pacific Coast Amateur and finishing runner-up at U.S. Amateur.

Stewart Hagestad
Newport Beach, Calif. (mid-amateur)
Age: 26
WAGR: 38
Buzz: The 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion tied for 36th at the Masters, where he was low amateur. Also qualified for the U.S. Open, tied for 13th at the Irish Open and was T-10 at the Trans-Miss Amateur.

Maverick McNealy
Portola Valley, Calif. (Stanford)
Age: 21
WAGR: 2
Buzz: Lost in the Round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur, but made two PGA Tour cuts this summer and played in two majors (U.S. Open, British Open). Played on 2015 U.S. Walker Cup team.

Collin Morikawa
La Canada Flintridge, Calif. (Cal)
Age: 20
WAGR: 6
Buzz: Won Northeast Amateur and was runner-up at the Sunnehanna Amateur and Trans-Miss Amateur. Made the Round of 16 at Riviera.

Doc Redman
Raleigh, N.C. (Clemson)
Age: 19
WAGR: 70
Buzz: U.S. Amateur winner, runner-up at Western Amateur, and also posted top 10s at the Northeast Amateur and Southern Amateur.

Scottie Scheffler
Dallas (Texas)
Age: 21
WAGR: 52
Buzz: Low amateur at the U.S. Open, where he was T-27, and T-3 at the NCAA Championship. Won the U.S. Junior in 2013.

Braden Thornberry
Olive Brand, Miss. (Ole Miss)
Age: 20
WAGR: 3
Buzz: Wins this year include NCAA Championship, Jones Cup and Sunnehanna Amateur. Was also T-4 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and made the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur.

Norman Xiong
Canyon Lake, Calif. (Oregon)
Age: 18
WAGR: 9
Buzz: Won Western Amateur after also capturing medalist honors at Skokie Country Club. Finished second in stroke play at U.S. Amateur before falling in the Round of 64.

Will Zalatoris
Plano, Texas (Wake Forest)
Age: 21
WAGR: 10
Buzz: Third at the Pacific Coast Amateur, T-10 at the Trans-Miss Amateur and made the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur. Won the U.S. Junior in 2014.

TICKETS           
Tickets for the 46th Walker Cup Match are available at www.walkercup.org. Grounds tickets for competition days are $75. Youth (age 16 and younger and accompanied by a ticketed adult) and active military are admitted free

PAR AND YARDAGE
The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) will be set up at 7,397 yards and will play to a par of 35-35–70. The yardage for each session of the competition will vary due to course setup and conditions.

ARCHITECT
George C. Thomas Jr., 1927; restoration by Gil Hanse, 2010

COURSE RATING AND SLOPE
Based on the course setup for the championship, the USGA Course Rating™ for The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) is 76.9 and its Slope Rating® is 148.

FOURSOMES
Foursomes is a match in which two players compete against two others players in an alternate-shot format, with each side playing just one ball.

SCORING
A victory in each match scores one point. In the event a match goes 18 holes without a winner, a half-point is awarded to each team.

The team that scores the most points wins the Match. In the event of a tie, the team that won the previous competition retains the Walker Cup.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE                                  
The 2017 Walker Cup Match will receive at least 12 hours of live network coverage. Shane O’Donoghue will anchor the Fox Sports 1 (FS1) telecasts with Paul Azinger and Brad Faxon in the 18th-hole tower. The broadcast team includes two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange, five-time USGA champion Juli Inkster, two-time USA Walker Cup captain and player Buddy Marucci, and Shane Bacon.

Date                Network                      Broadcast Hours (Local/PDT)
Sept. 9            FS1                               Foursomes, 9 a.m.-noon
FS1                               Singles, 2-5 p.m.
Sept. 10           FS1                               Foursomes, 9 a.m.-noon
FS1                               Singles, 3-6 p.m.

WALKER CUP MATCH HISTORY
This is the 46th Walker Cup Match. The competition began in the wake of World War I, following a series of meetings between the United States Golf Association and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the key purpose of which was a discussion of modifying the Rules of Golf. As part of the meetings, an international team competition was discussed, with the aim of strengthening understanding and friendship between The R&A and the USGA.

Among those attending the meetings at The R&A was George Herbert Walker, USGA president in 1920. Walker soon presented a plan for the competition and offered to donate a trophy. When the press dubbed the trophy the Walker Cup, the name stuck.

The first Walker Cup Match was contested in 1922 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y. Led by playing captain William C. Fownes Jr., the USA won the inaugural Match, 8-4. The USA leads the series, 35-9-1. Since 1989, however, when GB&I won for the first time in the USA, by one point at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., the series is tied at seven victories apiece.

RECENT WALKER CUP HISTORY         
2015 Walker Cup: Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Lancashire, England (GB&I 16½, USA 9½)
2013 Walker Cup: National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y. (USA 17, GB&I 9)
2011 Walker Cup: Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, Aberdeen, Scotland (GB&I 14, USA 12)
2009 Walker Cup: Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa. (USA 16½, GB&I 9½)
2007 Walker Cup: Royal County Down, Newcastle, County Down, Ireland (USA 12½, GB&I 11½)
2005 Walker Cup: Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill. (USA 12½, GB&I 11½)
2003 Walker Cup: Ganton Golf Club, Ganton, England (GB&I 12½, USA 11½)
2001 Walker Cup: Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island, Ga. (GB&I 15, USA 9)
1999 Walker Cup: Nairn Golf Club, Nairn, Scotland (GB&I 15, USA 9)
1997 Walker Cup: Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, N.Y. (USA 18, GB&I 6)
1995 Walker Cup: Royal Porthcawl, Porthcawl, Wales (GB&I 14, USA 10)
1993 Walker Cup: Interlachen Country Club, Edina, Minn. (USA 19, GB&I 5)
1991 Walker Cup: Portmarnock Golf Club, Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland (USA 14, GB&I 10)
1989 Walker Cup: Peachtree Golf Club, Atlanta, Ga. (GB&I 12½, USA 11½)

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTRY CLUB HISTORY
In 1897, a group calling themselves the Los Angeles Golf Club led by Joseph Sartori and Edward Tufts organized an association to further the cause of one of Southern California’s newest sports. After outgrowing two different locations and years of planning, the new Club at Beverly Hills officially opened on May 30, 1911. Its stately clubhouse, tennis courts and golf courses have served as the club’s home ever since. The original 18-hole golf course was laid out by Sartori, Tufts, Norman Macbeth and Charles Orr.

Thereafter, in 1921, British golf architect W. Herbert Fowler created two new 18-hole courses at the existing location to address the increasing popularity of the game of golf and The Los Angeles Country Club. In the late 1920s, legendary golf course architect and club member George C. Thomas Jr. redesigned the North Course and it was called his greatest design. In 2010, the North Course was unveiled after the completion of a five-year restoration project as noted architect Gil Hanse worked on Thomas’ original architecture. Balancing the unique architectural vision of the North Course and the functionality necessary to sustain its design well into the future, Hanse achieved what Thomas himself envisioned: “In golf course construction, art and utility meet; both are absolutely vital; one is utterly ruined without the other.” Archived photos, written documents and physical unearthing of landforms provided the framework for a finished product that reflects the past.

In March 2015, a significant 16-month renovation to the historic 106-year-old clubhouse at The Los Angeles Country Club (designed by architect and club member Sumner Hunt) began. The completed work restored its original grandeur. A grand reopening in August 2016 included the rededication of the Reagan Terrace in honor of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States and member of The Los Angeles Country Club.

In late 2015, Hanse began work to redesign and rebuild the South Course at The Los Angeles Country Club. Designed to provide a different but complementary golf experience from the North Course, the South Course was designed in the spirit of Augusta National with wide fairways transitioning to wood chips and native grasses with no rough. The South Course reopened in July 2016.

The Club recognizes the dedication of the men and women who have contributed to The Los Angeles Country Club’s proud history; its members, staff and fellow golfers from around the world. The Los Angeles Country Club’s storied past was shaped by them.

The Los Angeles Country Club is the host of the 46th Walker Cup Match and the club celebrates the tradition and the importance of amateur golf. With the net proceeds of the Walker Cup Match, the club expects to make a significant donation to the Southern California Golf Association to support youth golf. The Southern California Golf Association was founded at The Los Angeles Country Club.

The Los Angeles Country Club is the host site of the 2023 U.S. Open Championship.

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT LACC
The Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course has previously hosted two USGA championships. Glenna Collett (Vare) won the fifth of a record six U.S. Women’s Amateur titles when she defeated Virginia Van Wie, 6 and 5, in the 1930 championship final. In 1954, Foster Bradley defeated Allen Geiberger, 3 and 1, in a battle of two Southern Californians for the U.S. Junior Amateur title. In each year, it was the first time that the championships were contested on the West Coast.

1930 U.S. Women’s Amateur – Glenna Collett (Vare) def. Virginia Van Wie, 6 and 5
1954 U.S. Junior Amateur – Foster Bradley def. Allen Geiberger, 3 and 1

WALKER CUP IN CALIFORNIA
The 46th Match will be the second conducted in California and the third time the Walker Cup has been played on the West Coast. The previous host clubs were Seattle (Wash.) Golf Club in 1961 and Cypress Point Club, in Pebble Beach, Calif., in 1981.

1961 Walker Cup Match – USA def. Great Britain & Ireland, 11-1
1981 Walker Cup Match – USA def. Great Britain & Ireland, 15-9

FUTURE SITES 
Sept. 7-8, 2019: Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England
May 8-9, 2021: Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Fla.
2023: TBD
Sept. 6-7, 2025: Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach, Calif.