Jordan Spieth remembers it like it was yesterday.
“The nerves, there’s nothing I’ve experienced that can compare to it.”
The three-time major winner wasn’t referring to the pressure of a 4-foot putt to win the U.S. Open or the intensity of a Ryder Cup.
It was his opening tee shot in the 2011 Walker Cup Match.
No matter what event a golfer is competing in – a major championship, club championship or $5 Nassau with some buddies – your opening tee shot can bring a few butterflies. For those representing their country in the Walker Cup Match, the tension is on another level.
“I felt very calm and comfortable,” said Justin Rose, a member of the 1997 GB&I Walker Cup Team. “I had a great warmup and walked up to the tee. Then when my name was announced, my legs suddenly went to jelly.”
“It was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever experienced on a golf course,” said Luke Donald, who compiled a 7-1-0 record in two Walker Cup appearances for GB&I.
For many, it is their first time on a stage this big: the ultimate team competition in amateur golf. It has been played on some of the best courses in the world, including Pine Valley, St. Andrews and Cypress Point. The rosters of the Match’s long history include names like Jones, Ouimet, Nicklaus, Harrington, Woods and McIlroy – some of the greatest to play the game.
And if they needed any more pressure added into the equation, the first session of the Walker Cup is foursomes, or alternate shot. That has been the format since the very first Match in 1922. Not only are you representing your country, but you also have a partner who is dependent on you playing well to win your match.
Jason Gore was selected to represent the United States in 1997 at Quaker Ridge Golf Club. He was paired with John Harris, a veteran of two previous Matches.
“John was supposed to tee off the first and I would tee off the evens after that,” said Gore, now the senior director of player relations for the USGA. “We got to the first tee, and Gary Wolstenholme [of GB&I] was standing there with his driver. John looks at me and says, ‘You’re going.’ Then I got nervous. It hit me like a ton of bricks.”
“I remember the starter announcing, ‘Now representing the United States of America, Jason Gore.’ I couldn’t get my ball to stay on the tee I was shaking so badly.”
But this decision wasn’t Harris passing the buck on a stressful situation, rather it was a strategic move that helped Gore settle in and propelled their side to victory.
“Gary hit a solid drive down the middle, and I got up there and pounded one more than 100 yards past him,” said Gore. “After that, I realized why John had me hit against Gary. I needed that mental edge.”
Gore and Harris went on to win that match, 6 and 4.
Like Gore, Billy Horschel remembers the pressure manifesting itself in one of his best swings of the day.
“My heart was beating a million miles an hour,” said Horschel, who played on the 2007 USA Team. “I felt like I could have run through a brick wall. I was so nervous, excited… every emotion possible.”
He striped his opening tee shot down the left-center of the fairway and, playing with Rickie Fowler, they won their opening match, 4 and 3.
But these opening tee shots don’t always have Hollywood endings.
Rose hit his first shot of the 1997 Walker Cup out of bounds. John Augenstein asked his captain, Nathaniel Crosby, to hit the first ball of the entire Match in 2019 at Royal Liverpool. He chunked an iron into the left rough and his side made double bogey.
Likewise, Maverick McNealy’s first swing in 2015 left a little to be desired.
“When I got to the tee, all of a sudden the clubface on my 4-iron started to look like it was shrinking,” said McNealy, who competed on two USA Walker Cup Teams. “I flushed a low bullet straight into the left bunker where my partner [Hunter Stewart] could barely take a stance.”
But Augenstein and McNealy both earned redemption in a big way. Augenstein captured the winning point in a come-from-behind victory the next day at Hoylake, while McNealy went a perfect 4-0-0 in a dominating USA win at The Los Angeles Country Club in 2017.
Unlike Augenstein, Nathan Kimsey, of GB&I, didn’t ask his captain, Nigel Edwards, to play first in 2013 at the National Golf Links of America. He was told shortly before it was announced publicly at the Flag-Raising Ceremony on Friday, the evening before the Match began.
“I already knew who I was playing with [Max Orrin] and we had decided I would tee off on the odd-numbered holes,” said Kimsey. “But when Nigel told me we were going first, it took me 20 seconds to realize I was hitting the very first tee shot of the entire Match. Then it was goosebumps.”
The only adjustment Kimsey made from his normal routine was allowing a little extra time to get to the first tee. He wanted to savor the experience and give himself a few extra minutes to calm his nerves. As he walked over from the practice area, he saw the sea of people surrounding the tee and his heart rate went up.
National’s opening hole is a dogleg right, drivable par 4. But because of the bend to the right, Kimsey’s line was directly over the heads of fans who were packed in 30 yards off the tee.
“I had sweaty palms and the sun was directly in my eyes,” said Kimsey. “The atmosphere was incredible. It was quite nerve-wracking.”
He delivered, whistling his drive over the gallery and into the front greenside bunker, setting his side up for a birdie to start the day.
In 2017, Harry Ellis and Alfie Plant lost their opening match, 8 and 7, to Collin Morikawa and Norman Xiong, but more than anything, Ellis remembers the excitement in the team room the night before the competition and the honor of getting the call to hit first for GB&I.
“The first tee box was clustered with so much anticipation from the supporters of both teams to get the Match underway,” said Ellis. “For me, looking down the first hole at Los Angeles Country Club and to be representing GB&I was a unique and special feeling. I was nervous but tried to embrace it and enjoy the moment.”
The 20 golfers competing in the 48th Walker Cup Match follow in a long line of players with sweaty palms and anxious energy, hoping to channel those nerves as they head to the first tee at Seminole Golf Club.
Mike Trostel is the executive producer of content for the USGA. Email him at mtrostel@usga.org.