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It was love at first sight for Jimmy Dunne when he finally got to see a Walker Cup Match in person, at Chicago Golf Club in 2005. The pageantry of the opening ceremony, the chance to get close to the action, the opportunity to represent your country: It all left a strong impression on the native New Yorker.
“I was thinking, could there be a better place for this than Seminole, or a better thing for us to do?” he said. “More than 15 years later, the dream is about to be realized for Dunne, a member at the famed Florida golf club since 1995 and its president since 2012.
When 10-man amateur teams from the USA and Great Britain & Ireland square off May 8-9 in the 48th Walker Cup Match, they will do so at a club that has been famous for two things since opening on New Year’s Day in 1930: the superb quality of its Donald Ross-designed layout, and its unyielding privacy.
The club relented on the latter tenet, albeit for just one day, by hosting the TaylorMade Driving Relief event last May. Former Walker Cup competitors Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, plust Matthew Wolff, played the course in a televised Skins game that raised more than $5.5 million for pandemic-related causes.
“The extraordinary nature of the pandemic, and the need and desire for us to do something, is why we did that,” said Dunne. “And I’m glad we did. But I think it also whetted the knowledgeable golfing world’s appetite.”
Hosting the Walker Cup Match required more time and deliberation. After being inspired at Chicago Golf Club in 2005, Dunne let the idea percolate for a few years. Serious discussions with USGA leadership began at the 2013 Walker Cup at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y.
One afternoon Dunne was watching the matches with fellow Seminole member Vinny Giles, a former USA Walker Cup player and captain. “I said to him, ‘Vinny, what do you think about having a Walker Cup at Seminole?’ He said, ‘Well, it would be unbelievable’” It took more than three years to become official, but in December 2016, the USGA announced that Seminole and Cypress Point Club would host the Walker Cup in 2021 and 2025, respectively.
“The opportunity to host the Walker Cup, I know Jimmy jumped on it,” said Bob Ford, head professional at Seminole since 1999 and recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award in 2017 for his contributions to the game. “It’s one of the few USGA events that we can handle from a facility standpoint. For us, it’s an incredible fit.”
The Walker Cup’s first-ever appearance in Florida; did require a schedule change from the event’s traditional early September dates. “We’re so appreciative of The R&A understanding that we need to hold the event in May,” said Dunne. “When we were over at Royal Liverpool two years ago in September [for a 15½-10½ USA victory], there were hurricanes in Florida at the time. They understood that, one, we could get hurricanes and two, we would definitely have very wet conditions. In May, we should have ideal conditions with really firm greens.”
Located in Juno Beach and open from October through May, Seminole has always been first and foremost about golf. “We are unabashedly a golf club,” Dunne said. “If you don’t love golf, it’s not the right place for you. If you love golf but don’t play quickly, it’s not the right place for you. The only thing that keeps everybody together is the game itself and the aptitude of our membership. We have nine Walker Cup captains here. Not that it’s a badge of honor, but it’s telling.”
As is the participation of the world’s best players during the club’s annual Pro-Member event, which features many PGA Tour stars. The club also hosts the country’s top mid-amateurs every April in the George L. Coleman Invitational, named for a former club president.
Quality players have long flocked to Seminole. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen were early participants in the club’s Amateur-Professional tournament, while Arnold Palmer was part of that event’s winning team in 1961, the same year he won his first Open Championship. He later declared Seminole’s par-5 15th hole one of his favorite holes in the world.
Founded by Edward F. Hutton – yes that E.F. Hutton – in March 1929, Seminole Golf Club opened with 110 members who paid a $500 initiation fee and $300 in annual dues. Donald Ross designed the layout, deftly incorporating sand ridges that bracketed the property to the east and west into a routing with multiple angles that utilized the variable winds. Both the course and the distinctive clubhouse – designed by architect Marion Wyeth and featuring a pink stucco exterior – were completed that same year. But the club’s allure extends beyond its physical property.
Ben Crenshaw, who along with course-design partner Bill Coore enhanced the course during a recent three-year renovation project, says the feeling he gets at Seminole is palpable. “It represents some very dedicated golfers in a distinctly unique atmosphere,” Crenshaw said. “It’s one of the special places in golf in our country.”
While wind will certainly play a role, Crenshaw points to other factors that may ultimately determine who captures the Cup.
“I know the greens will be firm and fast,” he said. “They’re very elusive. You can hit a very good shot and many times it will just slip off the edge of a green and roll into a bunker. You have to have a good sand game, there’s no doubt about it. The greens are just slippery to play to. They really call for precise iron play, which goes right back to how you drive the ball as well. It’s such an honest test of golf.”
Dunne believes that Seminole has much in common with many of the world’s great courses, and in one particular respect the Old Course at St. Andrews. “I think it gets more difficult the closer you get to the hole,” Dunne said. “You’re going to miss greens at Seminole. We have what we call, ‘Greens Visited in Regulation.’ It’s an ideal match-play course because it will be fairly reasonable in length, but you really have to have your wits about you to get the ball in the hole.”
Almost a century after its opening, Seminole will briefly unveil itself on national TV for the second time in a year during the Walker Cup. The rare glimpse will complete the epiphany of sorts that Jimmy Dunne had that day long ago at Chicago Golf Club.
“Seminole has been a treasure in American golf,” he said. “I felt like we should be more open about it. I’m not saying everybody would agree with that. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is we are doing something for amateur golf and for our country, and that’s our responsibility.”
Tom Mackin is an Arizona-based writer whose work has not only appeared in Golf Journal but also the USGA website.
