Words by Peter Handcock, the Half Par Kid
With all eyes on Cypress Point this weekend, Half Par has taken a deep dive into the course and the players to pull together 5 things for viewers to look out for – or keep in mind – while watching the 50th Walker Cup.
The Walker Cup is nearly here, and few events in golf stir the soul quite like it. No prize money, no 7,700-yard resort course, just 20 of the world’s best amateurs, representing their country on the world’s best course, watched by thousands of golf nuts around the world – many of us seeing Cypress Point for the first, and likely only time.
In truth, the anticipation has been building ever since Cypress was announced as host for the 50th installment of golf’s most celebrated amateur contest, and now, with the match almost upon us, we can nearly touch the cypress trees, smell the sea air, and hear the polite applause from those lucky enough to be there in person.
Here are five storylines I’ll be following when play begins.
1. The 18th – An Awkward Finish?
Everyone will focus on Cypress Point’s famed run of 15, 16, and 17, the most dramatic closing stretch in golf. But lurking behind them is a hole that splits opinion: the 18th.
To Jimmy Demaret, it was a blemish on perfection – “the best 17-hole course in the world,” he said. Bill Coore sees it differently, calling the hole “very underrated”. Either way, if matches spill that far, it could provide plenty of drama.
On paper, 345 yards looks harmless, but in reality it’s anything but. The tee shot might find the fairway yet still leave no shot to the green thanks to the Monterey Cypress trees that overhang the line of play. The yardage book bluntly calls them “a barricade”, and unlike most trees, these aren’t 90% air; a nicked branch can send the ball skidding sideways, and in matchplay, sideways is usually terminal.
Is the hole itself a bad hole, or does it just pale in comparison to the greatest holes in the world just before? It’s probably the latter. Afterall, as Geoff Shackleford puts it, “Not every great symphony, concerto, pop album, or story ends with a bang.”
The chances of matches going down 18 are greater than you think – half of the 26 matches at Seminole went down the final hole four years ago. So while many contests will end earlier on the cliffs or dunes, don’t be surprised if a few handshakes play out beneath the clubhouse after an exciting 18th hole, that’s unlikely to be played in regulation by both teams.
2. America’s Dominance in Singles
Singles have long been America’s stronghold. Since 1963, when the format shifted from 36 to 18 holes, the USA has won 42 of 62 singles sessions. At St Andrews in 2023, it was the singles that swung the contest, with the Americans storming home 7–3 to seal their comeback.
Few embody that dominance better than Stewart Hagestad. Now making his fifth Walker Cup start (matching Bobby Jones for appearances), Big Stew boasts a 5–1 singles record. But that strength runs deeper.
Since 2017, when the US kicked off their current streak (arguably with their best team in the modern era, rivalled only by 2007), former players have racked up 34 PGA Tour wins compared with just six for GB&I alumni. Likewise, more than half of America’s players from the last four Walker Cups now hold PGA Tour cards, a reflection of the depth produced by the US college system.
This year’s singles could follow the same script with the Americans arriving with intimidating depth. Case in point: Jack Turner, world No. 11, didn’t even make the team, while GB&I’s top-ranked player, Tyler Weaver, sits only one place higher at No. 10 in WAGR.
There are plenty of potential match ups to keep an eye on too. Ethan Fang could meet Gavin Tierney in a rematch of their Amateur final, where the world No. 3 edged No. 471 on the 36th hole. Hagestad versus Conor Graham would reprise their 2023 clash (oldest against youngest) while Ben James might seek payback against Graham after losing their foursomes match last time.
If GB&I are to halt the US from winning five straight for the first time since 1983, keeping pace in the singles will be key.
3. The Front-Left Pin on 15
Pin positions can be more demanding and exciting in matchplay, and at Cypress the 15th could easily steal the show if the USGA goes with a front-left flag.
That sliver of green is barely 20 feet wide, boxed in by MacKenzie’s bunkering. Play it from the front tee, or the lesser known elevated ladies tee, and it might measure under 100 yards. We saw the USGA experiment with this kind of setup at the 2017 Walker Cup at LACC, giving players a 78-yard par three. Matchplay gives them the perfect licence to do it again.
Mackenzie himself notes this pin position as a way of enhancing the drama and strategy of his creation: “It is at its best when the flag is placed on the little tongue of green that projects between the bunkers on the right. In this position one has the alternative of playing an extremely difficult pitch with the chance of a two, or playing safe to the centre of the green and being content with a three.”
For those already comfortably ahead though, losing the hole won’t sting too badly. It just means another chance to take on the iconic 16th.
4. Strategy on the 9th
The course is famous for rule-breaking architecture, with MacKenzie stringing together three pairs of holes of the same par: the 5th and 6th (both par fives), the 15th and 16th (both par threes), and the 8th and 9th (both short par fours).
The 8th, at 369 yards over a blind dune to a four-tiered green, might be drivable in theory, though few will fancy it. The 9th, by contrast, is the real deal: 289 yards and, by all accounts, one of the finest short par fours anywhere.
The lay-up area is a narrow ribbon of fairway boxed in by sand, so even the “safe” play carries some risk. As a wise man once told me, “you have to be good to play safe,” and few shots sting more than a lay-up into the kak.
Taking on the green is no gimme either, with the surface shallow and sloping hard from left to right. Miss left and you’re staring at a 40-yard pitch that will be impossible to stop, while laying up too close leaves a 60-yard wedge that’s every bit as slippery.
Expect to see it all: drivers, irons, birdies, bogeys. However they play it, the 9th is bound to be one of the week’s highlights.
5. Stuart Grehan and Luke Poulter to Shine
GB&I arrive as underdogs, but there’s talent all the way through the side. Tyler Weaver is our highest-ranked player, Connor Graham is notching Walker Cup appearances at Cypress and St Andrews before his 19th birthday, Dominic Clements isn’t frightened of going low (shown by his 62 at Muirfield to win the Scottish Amateur by 17(!) shots) and Niall Shiels Donegan knows the California golf scene only too well, arriving in fine form from his US Amateur Semi-Final appearance.
But the two I’m backing to shine brightest are Stuart Grehan and Luke Poulter.
Luke’s pedigree speaks for itself. The son of Ian Poulter, he grew up hitting buckets of fresh ProV1s at Lake Nona under the mentorship of one of matchplay’s fiercest competitors, and his dad will be on the ground this week. His game is built for the occasion: early tee grabs and fist pumps feel like a guarantee from what we’ve seen in college golf and at Open Qualifying down at Deal.
Grehan offers a different edge. At 32, he’s the elder statesman, a former pro with his amateur status reinstated, and as such, a player reborn. Wins at both the Irish Amateur Close and the Irish Amateur Open this year have vaulted him inside the world’s top 150 amateurs despite only nine counting events. Expect him to make a mark at Cypress and then carry that form into the US Mid-Am, where a win would shock no one.
Few events line up as perfectly as this Walker Cup, with Cypress Point being the perfect stage to propel these amateurs further into their careers, and maybe also for a big upset in what many expect to be a celebration of US college golf at another cathedral of the game.
Strip it all back, though, and it’s what the Walker Cup has always been: golf without gloss, just pride, rivalry, and competition. This year, set against the cliffs and dunes of 17-Mile Drive, it could be the best yet.
