Mark Power (L) and Barclay Brown
The R&A has announced a squad of 19 players who are in contention for selection in the Great Britain and Ireland team to play the United States of America in the 49th Walker Cup at St Andrews.
The biennial encounter will be played over the world-renowned Old Course on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 September 2023, marking 100 years since the match was first played at the Home of Golf.
GB&I is aiming to win back the trophy after narrowly losing 14-12 to the United States of America at Seminole last year.
Stuart Wilson, GB&I captain, said, “We have selected a talented group of players who are key to our preparations for the Walker Cup and share our determination to win back the trophy from the United States of America.
“We will be getting together in St Andrews so that the players can really get to grips with the Old Course, understand its subtleties and learn from those individuals who have vast experience of the links.
“Our aim is to select a team which will give us the best chance of winning the match next year. In that regard, we will continue to monitor the players’ performances in amateur events over the coming months and provide them with support and advice. There is also still time for golfers not included in the squad to play their way into our plans and we will be keeping a close eye on their results too.”
The players included in the GB&I squad are:
James Ashfield (21, Delamere Forest, Wales)
Matthew McClean (29, Malone, Ireland)
Josh Berry (17, Doncaster, England)
Robert Moran (23, Castle, Ireland)
Barclay Brown (21, Hallamshire, England)
Liam Nolan (22, Galway, Ireland)
Archie Davies (21, Carlisle, Wales)
Peter O’Keeffe (41, Douglas, Ireland)
Arron Edwards-Hill (23, Chelmsford, England)
Mark Power (22, Kilkenny, Ireland)
Hugh Foley (25, Royal Dublin, Ireland)
Dylan Shaw-Radford (17, Huddersfield, England)
Connor Graham (16, Blairgowrie, Scotland)
Calum Scott (19, Nairn, Scotland)
John Gough (24, Beaconsfield, England)
Harley Smith (17, The Rayleigh Club, England)
Josh Hill (18, Trump International Dubai, England)
Tyler Weaver (17, Bury St Edmunds, England)
Frank Kennedy (17, Trump National Jupiter, England)
Eight players in the squad made up the victorious GB&I team which defeated the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy earlier this year, including Barclay Brown and Mark Power, who are aiming to compete in their second Walker Cup having played at Seminole last year.
Ireland’s Matthew McClean who became only the second player from outside of the United States of America to win the US Mid-Amateur Championship will be bidding to make the team.
Scotland’s Calum Scott and England’s John Gough will hope to follow in the footsteps of brothers Sandy and Conor, who both played in the match at Royal Liverpool in 2019, by earning selection for the final GB&I team. Connor Graham, The R&A Junior Open champion from Perthshire, is also included in the squad.
The final ten-man team will be announced in August.
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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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