Wrap: Team U.S.A Loses '15 Walker Cup In Record Fashion

Here's the good news: rock bottom for the Walker Cup and Team USA has been hit! And almost no one saw the carnage!

Buried over on ESPN3 was the BBC coverage for American viewers (where Peter Alliss and friends entertained) on the first Sunday of NFL action. So for the five people who could get the WatchESPN app to work, it was a blowout for the ages.

That's because Team USA went to Royal Lytham & St. Anne's and lost in record fashion and also for the fifth time in six visits to the links of the UK. And continuing the trend of other American teams, they predictably stunk up the foursomes play.

Oh, and they lost to a Great Britain & Ireland team that rose to the occasion.

Alex Miceli at Golfweek.com reports that "the result was almost a fait accompli before the 10 singles matches commenced on Sunday afternoon with GB&I holding a commanding 10-6 lead."

That's fair to say. So congrats to the UK's best young amateurs.

Team USA was undone in large part by 21-year-old Jimmy Mullen, who Alistair Tait at Golfweek.com reports joins "Paul Casey and Luke Donald (1999) and Andrew Oldcorn (1983) as the only players to record four wins out of four in Walker Cup history."

The R&A's official site reports on the 16½-9½ win at the 45th Walker Cup and includes this highlight video.

Now, the bad news for Team USA.

After a thrilling win in 2013 at the National Golf Links, the big win by GB&I leaves the American team and the ultra-secretive USGA-designed selection process in shambles. After all, as Ryan Lavner noted, the USA only leads 6-5 in the series since 1995 despite having about a 250,000,000 million popularion advantage.

While Great Britain & Ireland is getting better and might have won this match even more handily had they included Sam Horsfield, Team USA was in charity mode again this year, adding two mid-am's in a career celebration that, while admirable, makes you wonder if an effort is being made in Far Hills to win the event or just reaffirm to lifelong amateurs that they too, are people worthy of inclusion even if the numbers say otherwise

Just think, Florida freshman Horsfield passed on the cup for personal reasons and debuted at the Carpet Capital Collegiate with a T4. (Kevin Casey reports.) Had Horsfield played, GB&I might have won by more. It never hurts to face Team USA mid-ams who went 1-5 and have gone 3-8 since the USGA mandated their team include two players over the age of 25.

While the news was bad at Lytham, there is this: the Walker Cup is an exhibition and Team USA appeared to represent their country well. That's all that ultimately matters to most Americans, but not all. Plus, it's not Team USA's fault that the USGA has a super-secretive selection process creating bad karma with the mandatory two mid-am picks.

And it's not the fault of players that the USGA is beholden to a corporate arrangement with Ralph Lauren that has the players wearing four uniforms in two days of competition, making them look like fools in a blowout loss by auditioning Ralph's latest and greatest at an amateur golf competition.

Either that, or the USGA has decided to spend their Fox money on uniforms and Ralph is just going along with the excess. Regardless, the emphasis on style over substance did not go unnoticed.

Given what we've seen of the current USGA mindset of valuing loyalty and perceived tradition over the most basic common sense, changes to the team selection process will be unlikely. They should be striving to improve Team USA's chances when the matches are next played September 9 and 10, 2017 at The Los Angeles Country Club, but that would require Chairwoman Diana Murphy and friends to take a hard look at their own committee's decisions prior to this Cup.

Does any of this matter? Only in a first world sense.

In the world of modern sports, the Walker Cup is about to get more important because it's about to be televised, and we know you aren't happening in this world unless you are on TV.

With Fox televising in 2017 and Golf Channel moving in with the 2019 matches, this historic amateur competition is about to see a new spotlight. Which is why it's time for the USGA to end its secret selection process that fueled rumors of old boys network activities (fueling this year's mid-am selections even though they were the last two U.S. Mid-Amateur Champions). The lousy karma and bad blood from people who should be the USGA's biggest supporters over the mandatory mid-am selections is quietly undermining America's effort.

Most of all, the need to publish a Walker Cup points list detailing who is earning their way on to the team is vital for two reasons.

There's the USGA's credibility that is on the line, if they even care. Letting players earn their way on without having to pass some imaginary character test from an anonymous committee of people who have never played the game at a high level, is essential.

And a points list makes common marketing sense heading into the 2017 matches. You know, making people aware that one of golf's most historic and thrilling competitions is actually taking place.

Besides, if you don't do anything, there will be calls for a task force. Don't tempt us!

The (2015) Rankings Are Out! The (2015) Rankings Are Out!

So much to line your birdcage with all at once! What to do? Save the ink cartridges.

You longtime readers know how I feel about the course rankings that are too high on experiential factors and depressingly low on timeless design appreciation. But to recap: Golf Digest's still doesn't carry the weight it should because the list includes Resistance to Scoring as a category, which might as well be called resistance to fun, resistance to character and resistance to soul.

Imagine a ranking of great films rewarding only those that run over three hours, or saying great restaurants get points for difficulty of making a reservation.

The big news this year: Augusta National overtook Pine Valley for the top spot this year. Neither reflects the brilliant vision of their founders who are held up as saints at both clubs. Yet neither is worthy of being known as the best course in America after letting Tom Fazio inject his special brand of mediocrity and his shameful lack of understanding of the foundation and soul of Bobby Jones and George Crump's creations. Architecturally, The National Golf Links of America is on another level right now. And it won't surprise you to learn they have not had a Fazio on the property to do any damage.

Then there is Golf Magazine, which debuted its World Top 100 a day after Digest this year and, while generally more in line with my architectural tastes, adds two courses that no one but royal family members can or would be ignorant enough to access. These are (literally) private courses that almost no one will ever see. One in particular is an embarrassment to the idea of semi-refined golf architecture, with a ranking inclusion so clearly out of place (attested privately by horrified Golf Magazine panelists) that it devalues the entire exercise by its very inclusion.

I won't bore you with the ongoing and pathetic Golf Magazine love affair with Nine Bridges, but instead, let you revel in the joy that is new World No. 76, Ayodhya Links...

Podcasts! Scottish Golf Travel On North Berwick, Old Course

There's really only one way to plan a trip to Scotland and that's by listening to Ru Macdonald's Scottish Golf Podcast. Last week's episode with listener Stuart Stein is a perfect example of why you can't do any better in preparing for those once-in-a-lifetime trips.

On episode 74 we discuss (what else) North Berwick, the Old Course, The Glen Club and Crail, as well as some tips born out of my most recent voyage to the Home of Golf (ship those clubs please, Luggage Forward and ShipSticks are your friends!). 

And yes, Ru asks me what my one must-have piece of equipment was and it was my--no paid endorsement--my Linksoul water resistant jacket. (The XL is still on sale at half off.) The fall version is not on sale and has gone up in price, but as someone who hates playing in rain gear and rarely has ever found a jacket that works for swinging a club in less-than-ideal weather, this was a keeper!

Also on the By-the-Minute-Golf Podcast last week, don't miss Lawrence Donegan and John Huggan talking to Mark Canizzaro of the New York Post.

What To Do To Restore The Walker Cup's Luster?

As the Walker Cup looms this weekend riding on almost no wave of attention, the reasons are pretty obvious:

-- A small TV presence (the ESPN details are in my Forward Press column), few star amateurs sticking around

-- Players selected choosing college events over the Cup

-- A secretive selection process that engenders no awareness of the competition to make the team or the rationale for why the USA team was picked

-- A trip to a links that isn't the more interesting links the R&A could go to for this event

Matters this week weren't helped with the news that Sam Horsfield, who was the fourth-highest GB&I player on the team before withdrawing for "personal reasons," just played five qualifying rounds and is on for Florida's first travel squad of the fall.

Alistair Tait at Golfweek reports.

Horsfield did not answer Golfweek’s requests for an interview. However, Florida head coach J.C. Deacon responded by email to Golfweek’s question on why Horsfield could not play at Royal Lytham and St. Annes but could tee it up at the Carpet Capital.

Deacon wrote: “Sam would have loved to be overseas playing for GB&I but a family situation came up. He was ready to play and excited to represent his country, so I truly feel for him. He's an amazing young man and we are all supporting him. It's a personal issue within Sam's family and I wouldn't feel right commenting further. I appreciate you understanding and having Sam's best interest at heart.”

Therefore, it may be time to reconsider elements to what should be a sensational and historic event.

Adam Schupak pens a Golfweek.com column making suggestions about how to improve the event. The only one within the reach of the USGA and R&A involves the date, which is proving problematic for elite college players wanting to turn pro. I'm not sure a move to spring would help either though...

The Walker Cup’s September date, which is during the school year for most of these college-aged players, seems antiquated. Sure, a May date would take some of the luster off the amateur summer, but winning the U.S. Amateur would be just as prestigious, and it doesn’t seem as though the hot hand gets picked for the team anyway (See Aaron Wise, winner of the Pacific Coast Amateur, runner-up in the Western Amateur; Derek Bard, finalist in the U.S. Amateur).

Why does having the best players represented matter, you ask? This has long been an event that elite amateur golfers from the U.S. and GB&I aspire to be part of before they turn pro. Hall termed it “a bucket list item in an amateur career.” It should remain that way. But don’t just take my word for it. Patrick Rodgers represented the American side in the previous two Walker Cups.

“I wish more people had the experience I had playing in two Walker Cups,” he said. “Not only is it the pinnacle of amateur golf, it may be the most fun you ever have playing golf. I wouldn’t pass up that experience for any kind of money playing professional golf. I think kids who skip out on that opportunity are making a big mistake, to be honest.”

The 2017 Walker Cup returns to the United States and will be played at The Los Angeles Country Club.