USGA finalizes the U.S. Walker Cup team
Shortly after
Andy Ogletree lifted the Havemeyer Trophy as the newest U.S. Amateur champion, the USGA’s International Team Selection Committee announced the 10-player roster for the 47th Walker Cup Match, to be held Sep. 7-8 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.
Ogletree will be representing the United States, as will the player he defeated on Sunday at Pinehurst,
John Augenstein.
Before receiving the automatic selection reserved for the U.S. Amateur winner, Ogletree hadn't really thought much about this scenario. He had thought so little about it, in fact, that he doesn't even have a passport to get to the matches in England in three weeks. Don't worry: The USGA is on it.
By contrast, Augenstein put a Walker Cup selection ahead of winning the U.S. Amateur on his priority list. He had trouble processing it when it happened.
"I'm very proud of being selected for the Walker Cup," he said. "That was a major goal, obviously, as I've voiced all this week. And so it hasn't really sunk in yet, of course, because I was told about 30 seconds after I lost the match.
The two new selections will join
Cole Hammer,
Akshay Bhatia, and
Stewart Hagestad, who were the first three players chosen to the team based on their World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) in July.
Related: Hammer, Bhatia, Hagestad named to Walker Cup based on WAGR
For the final five selections, the Committee and U.S. Captain Nathaniel Crosby chose some of the nation's top collegiate golfers:
Steven Fisk,
John Pak,
Isaiah Salinda,
Alex Smalley, and
Brandon Wu. Fisk and Pak were consensus First-Team All-Americans in 2018-19, while Salinda, Smalley and Wu were named to the second team by Golfweek. Salinda and Wu were both key players in Stanford's
dramatic run to an NCAA Championship.
“The USGA has assembled an extremely talented squad to represent our country in the 47th Walker Cup Match,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “We are looking forward to watching this group bond in the spirit of teamwork, commitment and camaraderie when they compete to defend the Walker Cup.”
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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