Frederica Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.
FAR HILLS, N.J. (Nov. 13, 2014) – Five USGA
champions
are among the 16 players who have accepted
invitations from the United States Golf
Association’s
International Team Selection Committee to
participate in a
practice session for the 2015 Walker Cup Match.
The
practice session will take place Dec. 17-20 at
Frederica
Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga.
The 45th Walker Cup Match will be contested
Sept. 12-13,
2015, at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf
Club in
Lancashire, England.
Notable players participating include:
Will Zalatoris, of Plano,
Texas — The Wake Forest University commit
won
the U.S. Junior Amateur,
Texas State Amateur,
and Trans-Mississippi Championship in 2014. He
also
reached the sweet 16 in
Atlanta at the U.S.
Amateur before losing to Zachary Olsen.
Bryson Dechambeau,
of Clovis, Calif. — A winning member of the
United
States at the World
Amateur Team, where he
tied for eighth place individually, DeChambeau
also
has top-tens at the
Western Amateur Stroke-
Play Qualifying and the NCAA Southwest
Regional.
The 2013 Trans-Miss
champion also reached
the quarters at the U.S. Amateur Public Links
and the
round of 16 at the U.S.
Amateur.
Byron Meth, of San
Diego,
Calif. — The University of
the Pacific senior
won the final U.S. Amateur Public Links
Championship ever conducted,
defeating Texas Longhorn
freshman Doug Ghim in the finals after also
being
medalist. He reached the
final 16 at the U.S.
Amateur and recorded top-tens at the Sahalee
Players and NCAA West
Regional.
Doug Ghim, of Arlington Heights,
Ill. —
Ghim, a freshman at the
University of
Texas, was runner-up to Meth at the 2014 U.S.
Amateur Public Links, but that
wasn't his only feat
this year. He was medalist at the Western
Amateur,
which was eventually
won by his new
teammate Beau Hossler, reaching the
quarterfinals
himself.
Scott Harvey, of
Greensboro,
N.C. — Winner of this
year's U.S. Mid-
Amateur over Brad Nurski, where the two
shared
medalist honors, Harvey is
one of three mid-
amateurs joining a mainly college-aged group in
Georgia. Aside from the
USGA win, Harvey
captured the Cardinal Amateur title and placed in
the
top-ten at the Coleman
Invitational and
Northeast Amateur.
Beau Hossler, of
Mission
Viejo, Calif. — One of
two Texas Longhorns
in the group, Hossler took home the prestigious
Western Amateur title as well
as defended his
crown at the Southern California Amateur. He
was
runner-up at two events in
2014 — the
California Amateur and Porter Cup. Hossler,
along
with Bryson DeChambeau
and Denny
McCarthy, where part of a victorious United
States
team at the World Amateur
Team
Championship.
All other players:
Denny McCarthy, of
Rockville, Md.
Charlie Danielson, of
Osceola, Wis.
Lee McCoy, of
Clarkesville, Ga.
Rico Hoey, of Rancho
Cucamonga, Calif.
Robby Shelton, of
Wilmer, Ala.
Hunter Stewart, of
Lexington, Ky.
Kyle Jones, of Snowflake,
Ariz.
Maverick McNealy,
of Portola
Valley, Calif.
Mike McCoy, of West Des
Moines,
Iowa
Nathan Smith, of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Harvey, McCoy and Smith are mid-amateurs (25
years or
older). The other invitees all currently
compete at
the collegiate level.
Harvey (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur), McCoy (2013
U.S. Mid-
Amateur), Meth (2014 U.S. Amateur Public
Links),
Smith (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 U.S. Mid-
Amateur) and
Zalatoris (2014 U.S. Junior Amateur) are USGA
champions. Dechambeau, Hossler and McCarthy
made up
the winning USA Team for the 2014 World
Amateur
Team Championship, which defeated Canada by
two
strokes in Japan in September.
Smith is the only participant
with
previous Walker Cup Match experience, having
competed
for the USA in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Smith
earned
the clinching point in the USA’s 17-9 victory in
2013 at the
National Golf Links of America in
Southampton, N.Y.
USA captain John “Spider” Miller, a Walker Cup
competitor
in 1999, emphasized that an invitation to
the
practice session does not guarantee selection to
the 10-
man team. He added that many players not
included on
the 16-man list for December will be in the mix
during the
final selection process.
“This is an insightful way to get to know these
potential
Walker Cup players in an informal setting and
we have
the opportunity to introduce them to the Match
and its
unique format,” said Miller. “The good people at
Frederica Golf Club have offered us their fine
facility to
start on the process. We appreciate their
hospitality.”
The Walker Cup Match is an international team
competition
that consists of four foursomes (alternate-
shot)
matches on both mornings of the two-day
competition,
with eight singles matches on the first
afternoon and 10
singles matches on the final afternoon.
The USGA’s International Team Selection
Committee
chooses the USA Team. The R&A chooses the
Great Britain
and Ireland side. The GB&I Team will be
captained by
Nigel Edwards, of Wales, who competed in
2001, 2003,
2005 and 2007, and also served as captain in
2011 and
2013.
The USA leads the overall series, 35-8-1.
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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