First Walker Cup And NGLA Previews

Dave Anderson sets the table for this week's Walker Cup at The National Golf Links.

Though I'm not sure this statement about the course being unchanged is entirely accurate! However, that statement is a tribute to the beautiful restoration undertaken by Mssrs. Olson and Salinetti.

Its fabled course, designed by Charles Blair Macdonald, the father of American golf architecture, is virtually unchanged since it opened in 1911. New tees at the 7th, 14th and 16th holes have stretched it to 6,995 yards, only 122 yards longer than when Bobby Jones, Francis Ouimet and Chick Evans — three of golf’s revered names — won the inaugural cup matches there in 1922.

Enriching the scene will be the National’s majestic tan stucco clubhouse and landmark windmill overlooking Peconic Bay — no different from when the 20-year-old Jones, who would win a record-sharing four United States Opens and five United States Amateur titles, teed off there. Before those 1922 matches, George Herbert Walker, the president of the United States Golf Association (and grandfather of the 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush), put up an unnamed silver trophy for the winners. “Members of the press,” as reporters were called then, labeled it the “Walker Cup,” and it has been known as that ever since as American teams have built a 34-8-1 record in the biennial series.

John Steinbreder in Global Golf Post gives a nice overview of the club's history, though kindly leaves out a mention of the conditioning problems that plagued them early on, and also reveals some of the things that make the club so cool (besides the amazing course).

The USGA also posts a nice appetite-whetting video that reminds us how special it is to be returning to The National Golf Links of America. A shame we weren't in year one of the Fox Sports deal, this could have been narrated by Regis with much hipper music to appeal to the masses. Oh well.