Far Hills, N.J. (Aug. 7) – Three more of the 10
players who will comprise the 2011 USA Walker
Cup Team have been selected by the
International Team Selection Committee of the
United States Golf Association. The 2011
Walker Cup Match will be played Sept. 10-11
at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen,
Scotland.
The players are:
Patrick Rodgers, 18, Avon,
Ind.
Nathan Smith, 33, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
Chris Williams, 20, Moscow,
Idaho
Smith, a three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion (2003, 2009 and 2010), was a
member of the victorious 2009 USA Walker Cup
Team and went 2-0 in foursomes (alternate-
shot) with partner Peter Uihlein. He also won
the 2011 Sunnehanna Amateur.
Williams, who will be a junior at the University
of Washington, qualified for this year’s U.S.
Open at Congressional Country Club. He also
won the Sahalee Players Championship, the
Pacific Coast Amateur (closing with rounds of
66-66) and was the 72-hole stroke-play
medalist at the Western Amateur in early
August, carding a 16-under total of 268 at
North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill.
Rodgers will be an incoming freshman this fall
at Stanford University. He claimed the 2011
Porter Cup in a playoff and advanced to the
quarterfinals of the Western Amateur after
claiming the No. 2 seed in stroke-play
qualifying behind Williams.
Previously, Patrick Cantlay, 19, Los Alamitos,
Calif.; Harris English, 22, Thomasville, Ga.;
Russell Henley, 22, Macon, Ga.; and Peter
Uihlein, 21, Orlando, Fla., were named to the
team that will compete against 10 amateurs
representing Great Britain and Ireland. The
remaining three USA players will be named later
this month.
The captain of the USA Team is Jim Holtgrieve,
63, of St. Louis, Mo., who was a playing
member of the 1979, 1981 and 1983 USA
Teams, as well as the 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion.
The biennial Walker Cup Match consists of 18
singles matches and eight foursomes
(alternate-shot) matches over the
competition’s two days. The USA Team has
won the last three Matches and leads the
overall series, 34-7-1.
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Cantlay, English, Uihlein, Henley named
to roster
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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