Team USA Walker Cup Practice Participants Announced
Maverick McNealy was a member of the 2015 Walker Cup team
(USGA Photo)
LOS ANGELES, CA (November 28, 2016) -- On Monday
afternoon the USGA announced the 16 American players
that will attend the December 14-18 practice session for
the 2017 Walker Cup. Eventually the group will
be whittled down to just 10, no small task. The current
contingent of players is
headlined by Stanford senior
Maverick McNealy, the top-
ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
The practice session will be held at Los Angeles
Country Club were the 46th playing of the matches will
be held next September 9-10. Team USA will be looking
to win back the Cup after falling 16.5-9.5 to Great
Britain and Ireland in 2015 at Royal Lytham & St.
Annes. Overall the Americans hold a commanding 35-9-
1 advantage.
The U.S. side will once more be captained by 1999
Walker Cup team member and two-time U.S. Mid-
Amateur winner John “Spider” Miller.
Among the 16 players invited to the mid-December
practice there are 14 collegiate players and two mid-
amateurs. Along with McNealy, the college ranks are
being represented by:
Dawson Armstrong (Lipscomb)
Sean Crocker (USC)
Brad Dalke (Oklahoma)
Doug Ghim (Texas)
Gavin Hall (Texas)
Nick Hardy (Illinois)
Rico Hoey (USC)
Dylan Meyer (Illinois)
Collin Morikawa (California)
John Oda (UNLV)
Scottie Scheffler (Texas)
Jimmy Stanger (Virginia)
Will Zalatoris (Wake Forest)
The two mid-amateur representatives are 2015
Walker Cup team member Scott Harvey and reigning
U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad.
“All 16 of these talented individuals have
demonstrated they have the ability to compete at the
highest levels of amateur golf,” said Tom Hough,
chairman of the USGA’s International Team Selection
Committee. “This practice session will provide Captain
Miller the opportunity to get to know prospective
members of his 2017 team in an informal setting at the
venue that will host the competition.”
The five highest ranked Americans in the World
Amateur Golf Rankings not to be invited to the practice
session include junior player Noah Goodwin (7th),
Washington's Corey Pereira (16th), Virginia's Derek
Bard (26th), Penn State's Charles Huntzinger (37th) and
Albama's Davis Shore (39th).
However, as recent history shows just because you
aren't invited to the session it doesn't mean that you
won't be a member of the team. In 2015 both Lee
McCoy and Jordan Niebrugge made the team despite
not attending the practice.
The process still has months to go and with the
entire spring college season and summer tour still to
come a lot can happen. Final choices will be made
following next August's U.S. Amateur Championship at
Riviera Country Club.
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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