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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif –
With the Pacific Ocean’s waves crashing on the shoreline just a short wedge shot away, former President George W. Bush offered his best wishes to this weekend’s Walker Cup competitors.
“I love the Walker Cup. I think it’s one of the great athletic events – ever,” Bush said during Friday’s opening ceremony.
The sun-drenched Cypress Point Golf Club – at least in the afternoon — is this year’s host. It’s just up the Monterey Peninsula coastline from the more famous Pebble Beach Golf Links. But this course is revered by golf aficionados for its holes along and over the ocean and its use of the adjacent sandy dunes and craggly cypress pines elsewhere on the property.
First contested in 1922, this is the 50th time the best male amateur golfers from the United States will compete against their counterparts from Great Britain & Ireland in a competition named for the former president’s great-grandfather.
“You know, G.H. Walker had a lot of kids – who then had a lot of kids,” Bush said about his family’s connection to this event. “And a lot of them are here and probably wondering how come I’m the guy who gets to speak at the Walker Cup and they don’t. My answer is: run for president.”
Over its history, some of the game’s best have competed in the Walker Cup before going to greater glory, including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. Time will only tell if any of this year’s 20 competitors – most of whom are in college – will join that illustrious group.
On home soil and on a four-match winning streak, the U.S. team, at least on paper, looks to have the advantage. The world’s top six ranked amateur players, including number one Jackson Koivun of Auburn University, are on the U.S. squad.
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“It’s one of the best golf courses I’ve ever played,” Koivun said Thursday. “I was fortunate enough to play here my freshman year of college, and just to come back, play in the Walker Cup here, the golf course is in great shape. You think so much around this place. It’s just truly one of the special points of golf.”
Of the ten American players, four hail from Texas.
The top ranked player (#10) from GB&I is Tyler Weaver of England, who plays his college golf at Florida State University.
“I don’t think the rankings mean too much at an event like this,” Weaver said. “Obviously, they’ve got some really high-ranked players as well, but our team is also great, and the rankings at the end of the day don’t really mean too much.”
But the player making the most noise during practice rounds this week is Luke Poulter, who made four eagles, including his first ever ace.
“[Thursday] was pretty cool holing out on hole one and then two holes later getting my first hole-in-one, so that was pretty special,” said Poulter, son of seven-time Ryder Cup participant Ian Poulter. “The game is good. [The] course is in unbelievable condition, so no complaints on that. I feel really good, comfortable, and ready to get this match started.”
The two-day competition ends Sunday.
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