“I played my heart out all summer, and thought it was good enough, but in the end those guys didn’t think it was good enough.”

Some of you commented and I heard from several prominent folks privately who were outraged at the final Walker Cup selections. I don't know enough about the politics of it, but like many USGA affairs, I'm sure it's messy.

Sean Martin calls the omission of Dan Woltman a "snub" and writes:

Many thought Woltman was a lock for one of the final two spots on the team regardless of what happened at the U.S. Amateur. Woltman won this year’s Northeast Amateur, made the Sweet 16 at the Western Amateur for the second consecutive year, advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur and had top-10s at the Players Amateur and Sahalee Players Championship.

“I’m very surprised,” Woltman said. “I played my heart out all summer, and thought it was good enough, but in the end those guys didn’t think it was good enough.”

The U.S. Golf Association put a heavy emphasis on team camaraderie when selecting this year’s team, especially after the close-knit 2007 team won at Royal County Down.

This was an interesting point as it relates to the new format:

There’s something to be said for team chemistry. But the fact of the matter is that 18 of the 26 matches will be singles matches. A player’s relationship with his prospective teammates should be weighed, but only if he is a borderline candidate. Woltman was not one of those. He is No. 8 in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com World Amateur Rankings.

Comments

[Scott]

I guess it's a snub for the Golfweek amateur rankings, which have Woltman at 8 and Tim Jackson at 82. I had a good laugh over that. Let's face it, the mid-Ams are getting the back of the hand, not only from the ranking "authorities" but also from the USGA, which should know better. In a last-day singles match for the Walker Cup I'd take Jackson's experience over that of most college golfers.

[JPB]

It seems like this happens whenever the Walker Cup rolls around. The bottom line is that there were more qualified candidates than there were openings. Having said that, however, Woltman does have a strong case. I'm sensing that the other players don't care much for Woltman and if you read between the lines with the comments from the folks at the USGA about team chemistry it's hard to think otherwise.

[ARL]

Hard not to agree with JPB's last sentence. Alleged grownups in the USGA might want to remember that before they make public comments reflecting on the personalities of youngsters. (Even Andrew Giuliani.)

[Jeremy]

I'm still stumped how the USGA left Drew Weaver off the team in 2007. How do you not take the British Am champ to go play a links course?

Uihlein making the team over Woltman is LOL funny.