Initial Great Britain and Ireland 2017 Walker Cup Roster Announced
WAGR No. 6 Scott Gregory
(Golfweek Photo)
(January 23, 2017) -- On Monday the Royal and
Ancient
released the initial Great Britain and Ireland 2017
Walker Cup roster. The announcement comes with
just
under eight months remaining until the matches are
set
to tee off
on September 9-10 at Los Angeles Country Club.
The
announcement comes roughly a month after Team
USA
held a practice session at LACC.
The initial GB&I roster includes 19 players and it
will be trimmed to 10 in August. Headlining the
current
roster is the sixth ranked player in the World
Amateur
Golf
Rankings Scott Gregory of England. Gregory won
last
summers British
Amateur and he will be joined by the
player whom he defeated in the final on the roster,
world
No. 10 Robert MacIntyre of Scotland.
Also on the roster is 19th ranked amateur
Connor
Syme, the winner of the 2016 Australian Amateur
and
defending Irish Amateur Open Champion Colm
Campbell. Reinstated amateur Barry Hume is apart
of
the initial roster as well.
Here is a complete look at the 19 players on the
GB&I roster that will be competing to play for first-
time
captain Craig Watson:
David Boote, Wales
Paul McBride, Ireland
Daniel Brown, England
Bradley Moore, England
Colm Campbell, Ireland
Conor O’Rourke, Ireland
Owen Edwards, Wales
Marco Penge, England
Alex Gleeson, Ireland
Alfie Plant, England
Scott Gregory, Scotland
Craig Ross, Scotland
Stuart Grehan, Ireland
Sandy Scott, Scotland
Craig Howie, Scotland
Connor Syme, Scotland
Barry Hume, Scotland
James Walker, England
Robert MacIntyre, Scotland
Speaking on the 19 players currently on the
GB&I
roster captain Watson said, "We have identified a
strong
group of players who are all in contention for a place
on
the team and we will be monitoring their
performance
and results over the coming season. We will also pay
close attention to the progress and form of players
who
have not been included in this current squad as they
also have the opportunity to play their way into
contention for the team selected to play the USA in
September.”
GB&I is hoping to retain the trophy after
winning it
on home soil by a score of 16.5-9.5 in 2015 at Royal
Lytham & St Annes.
Team USA announced their early roster in
November and held a practice session at Los
Angeles
Country Club shortly before Christmas.
Editors Note: The R&A contributed to this
storyView results for The Walker Cup
ABOUT THE
The Walker Cup
The Walker Cup Match is a biennial 10-man
amateur
team competition between the USA and a team
composed of players from Great Britain and
Ireland
and selected by The R&A. It is played over two
days
with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes
(alternate-shot) matches.
The first United States Walker Cup Team, which
in
1922 defeated the GB&I side, 8-4, at the
National Golf
Links of America, is considered among the best
teams
ever and included Francis Ouimet, Bob Jones,
Charles
“Chick” Evans and Jess Sweetser. Many of the
game’s
greatest players have taken part in Walker Cup
competition, including U.S. Open champions
Jack
Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth for
the
USA
and Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Justin
Rose
for Great Britain and Ireland.
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