PAR AND YARDAGE: National Golf Links of America (http://www.2013walkercup.com) will be set up at 6,986 yards and play to a par of 36-36--72. 

NATIONAL GOLF LINKS OF AMERICA HOLE BY HOLE:  

ARCHITECT: National Golf Links of America was founded under the leadership of Charles Blair Macdonald. The golf course was constructed with the assistance of Southampton engineer Seth Raynor. Macdonald incorporated the better qualities of golf courses in the British Isles over a 285-acre area located on Peconic Bay in the town of Southampton.

WALKER CUP MATCH: The Walker Cup Match is contested by male amateur players, one team from the United States of America and one team comprised of players from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The teams consist of not more than 10 players and a captain. The Match is conducted every two years, alternately in the USA and in Great Britain and Ireland.

TEAM SELECTION: The USA Team is selected by the United States Golf Association. The R&A selects the team from Great Britain and Ireland.

2012 CAPTAINS: Jim Holtgrieve of St. Louis, will serve as the captain for the USA Walker Cup Team. Nigel Edwards of Wales was captain of Great Britain and Ireland. Holtgrieve, who also served as the USA captain in 2011, played on three victorious USA teams in 1979, 1981 and 1983. He has an overall Walker Cup record of 6-4-0, including 3-1 in singles. Edwards returns as GB&I captain for a second time. He guided the team to a 14-12 victory in 2011. Edwards played in four consecutive Walker Cups from 2001 through 2007, including a pair of wins. He is the third Welshman to captain GB&I, following Tony Duncan and Clive Brown.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY: On Sept. 7, there will four foursomes (alternate-shot) matches (18 holes each) in the morning and eight singles matches (18 holes each) in the afternoon. On Sept. 8, there will be four foursomes matches (18 holes each) in the morning and 10 singles matches (18 holes each) in the afternoon.

Friday, Sept. 6:5:30 p.m., Opening Ceremony
Saturday, Sept. 7: 7:30 a.m., Foursomes (four matches);1 p.m., Singles (eight matches)
Sunday, Sept. 8:7:30 a.m., Foursomes (four matches); 1 p.m., Singles (10 matches)

FOURSOMES: Foursomes is a match where two players complete against two others players in an alternate-shot format, with each side playing just one ball.

SCORING: A victory in each match scores one point. In the event a match goes 18 holes without a winner, one-half point is awarded to each team. In the event of a tie, the team that won the previous competition retains the trophy.

WALKER CUP MATCH HISTORY: This is the 44th Walker Cup Match. The competition began in the wake of World War I, and it came together following a series of meetings with the USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the purpose of which was largely to look at modifying the Rules of Golf. As part of the meetings, an international team competition was discussed, much like what was already taking place between the United States and Canada, in 1919 and 1920.

Among those attending the meetings at The R&A was George Herbert Walker, USGA president in 1920. The idea of an amateur team competition appealed to Walker and he soon presented a plan and offered to donate a trophy. When the press dubbed the trophy the Walker Cup, the name stuck.

The first Walker Cup Match was held in 1922 at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.  Led by playing captain William C. Fownes Jr., the United States won the inaugural Match, 8-4. The USA leads the series 34-8-1.

RECENT WALKER CUP HISTORY           

Championship Years, Course and Winners
1993 Walker Cup – Interlachen Country Club, Edina, Minn. (USA 19, GB&I 5)
1995 Walker Cup – Royal Porthcawl, Porthcawl, Wales (GB&I 14, USA 10)
1997 Walker Cup – Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, N.Y. (USA 16, GB&I 8)
1999 Walker Cup – Nairn Golf Club, Nairn, Scotland (GB&I 15, USA 9)
2001 Walker Cup – Ocean Forest Golf Club, Sea Island, Ga. (GB&I 15, USA 9)
2003 Walker Cup – Ganton Golf Club, Ganton, England (GB&I 12.5, USA 11.5)
2005 Walker Cup – Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill. (USA 12.5, GB&I 11.5)
2007 Walker Cup – Royal County Down, Newcastle, County Down, Ireland (USA 12.5, GB&I 11.5)
2009 Walker Cup – Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa. (USA 16.5, GB&I 9.5)
2011 Walker Cup – Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, Aberdeen, Scotland (GB&I 14, USA 12)

WALKER CUP MATCH IN NEW YORK: The 2013 Walker Cup Match will be held in New York for the sixth time. The international competition returns to National Golf Links of America, where the first Walker Cup was conducted in 1922.

WALKER CUPS IN NEW YORK     

Years, Courses and Winners
1922 Walker Cup – National Golf Links of America, Southampton (USA 8, GB&I 4)
1924 Walker Cup – Garden City Country Club, Garden City (USA 9, GB&I 3)
1949 Walker Cup – Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck (USA 10, GB&I 2)
1977 Walker Cup – Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton (USA 16, GB&I 8)
1997 Walker Cup – Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale (USA 18, GB&I 6)

FUTURE SITES
Sept. 12-13, 2015 – Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club, Lancashire, England
Sept. 9-10, 2017 – The Los Angeles Country Club, Los Angeles, Calif.

2011 WALKER CUP RECAP: Great Britain and Ireland, bolstered by the undefeated records of Paul Cutler and Rhys Pugh, won the Walker Cup Match for the first time since 2003 with a 14-12 victory over the USA at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland. Cutler, 22, of Northern Ireland and winner of the 2011 Irish Amateur, compiled a 3-0-1 mark. Welshman Pugh, the youngest competitor on either side at 17, was a perfect 3-0. He won the 2011 Irish Amateur Open. GB&I, captained by Nigel Edwards, have claimed four of the last five Walker Cups played on home soil, dating to 1995 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. In windy conditions, GB&I won three matches and tied a fourth in Sunday morning’s foursomes (alternate shot) to increase its lead to 10.5-5.5. The USA won the first two matches in the afternoon singles session to chip away at the deficit margin, but Steven Brown’s halve with the USA’s Blayne Barber in the sixth match earned the necessary 13.5 points to win the Match and end a streak of three consecutive defeats in Walker Cup play.

2009 WALKER CUP RECAP: Rickie Fowler and Peter Uihlein both went a perfect 4-0 to lead the United States of America to a 16.5-9.5 victory over Great Britain and Ireland at the 2009 Walker Cup Match at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. It was the third consecutive win for the Americans. In Sunday morning’s foursomes (alternate shot), the USA Team won three of the four matches for the second consecutive day to build its lead to 11-5 heading into the afternoon’s singles play. Cameron Tringale, 22, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., posted an 8-and-6 victory over Luke Goddard to give the USA its 13th point and assured the Americans of retaining the Walker Cup. Uihlein, 20, of Orlando, Fla., then earned a 3-and-1 win over Stiggy Hodgson to claim the trophy outright for the USA Team captained by George “Buddy” Marucci.

MEDIA CONFERENCES: Captains and players from each team will meet with credentialed media on Friday afternoon. Media conferences are also scheduled at the conclusion of each day’s play.

PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE: The USGA will offer daily complimentary high-resolution photographs during the Walker Cup Match (Friday-Sunday) for news use only. For more information and to register, contact photorequests@usga.org.

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS
USGA Communications Department – (908) 234-2300
Walker Cup Match Media Center – TBD

MORE INFORMATION: Contact Pete Kowalski and Brian DePasquale of USGA Championship Communications, by email at pkowalski@usga.org and bdepasquale@usga.org or cell phone at (908) 216-8435 or (908) 655-8395, respectively. For more information on the USGA, visit www.usga.org. Media-specific information can be found at http://www.usga.org/MC_Home.aspx.