The 1922 Walker Cup, the first

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

Match, was a team golf match played on August 28 and 29, 1922 at the

National Golf Links of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

. The United States won 8 to 4. There had been heavy rain for several days before the event and course was very wet.

Format

In February 1922 the USGA sent an invitation to the R&A to send a team representing the British Isles to America to play a match against a team representing the USGA. It was suggested that 10 players-a-side would be a suitable number. The date suggested was just prior to the United States Amateur Championship in early September. The letter also invited the R&A to send a team of four to the "Walker Cup" to take place at the

after the Amateur Championship. The Invitation to play the International Match was accepted. The R&A appealed to clubs to subscribe to a fund to finance the expenses, estimated at £2,000 to £3,000. Expenses to and from the United States were paid together with costs in the United States up until the day of the event, but not thereafter, should the players choose to play in the Amateur Championship. In April there was still a report of two amateur team events; an 8 or 10 men team match at Brookline and a 4 men team event for the Walker Cup at the National. The "Walker Cup" mentioned was presumably intended to an multinational team event, similar to that planned for September 1921 but, as in 1921, it seems that no countries accepted the invitation. The 1922 match between America and British Isles became the first Walker Cup. There were eight players in each team. Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were played on Monday August 28 and eight singles matches on Tuesday August 29. Each of the 12 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. Matches level after 36 holes were played to a finish. The total expense of the trip by the British team was £1,588. £787 was subscribed to the fund financing the tour leaving a deficit of £801. Without the hospitality of the Americans the expenses would have been considerably higher.

Teams

Team United States

Playing captain: William C. Fownes Jr. *

Chick Evans Charles E. "Chick" Evans Jr. (July 18, 1890 – November 6, 1979) was an American amateur golfer of the 1910s and 1920s. Evans, who won the 1910 Western Open, became the first amateur to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in one year, a ...

* Robert Gardner * Jesse Guilford * Bobby Jones * Max Marston *

Francis Ouimet Francis DeSales Ouimet () (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected ...

Jess Sweetser Jesse William Sweetser (April 18, 1902 – May 27, 1989) was an amateur golfer, best known as the first American-born player to win the British Amateur. Early life Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Sweetser later attended Phillips Exeter Academy and ...

Team Great Britain

Playing captain: Robert Harris *

Colin Aylmer Collinson Charleton Aylmer (6 February 1884 – 12 July 1964) was an English amateur golfer. He was runner-up in the 1910 Amateur Championship and was in the British team in the 1921 international match against America and in the first Walker Cup ...

* John Caven * Chubby Hooman * Willis Mackenzie *

Cyril Tolley Major Cyril James Hastings Tolley MC (14 September 1895 – 18 May 1978) was a British amateur golf champion and briefly a Liberal Party politician. He died in Eastbourne. Background Tolley was the son of James T. Tolley and Christiana Mary Pas ...

* William Breck Torrance *

Roger Wethered Roger Henry Wethered (3 January 1899 – 12 March 1983) was an English amateur golfer, and the brother of female golfer Joyce Wethered. Early life Born in Surrey, Wethered was the only son of Herbert Newton Wethered and his wife Marion Emmeli ...

* Bernard Darwin (reserve) The Amateur Champion

Ernest Holderness Sir Ernest William Elsmie Holderness, 2nd Baronet CBE (13 March 1890 – 23 August 1968) was an English amateur golfer and one of the Holderness baronets. He won The Amateur Championship in 1922 and 1924 and the Golf Illustrated Gold Vase in 1925. ...

was unavailable for work reasons.

Angus Hambro Angus Valdemar Hambro (8 July 1883 – 19 November 1957) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Early life Angus Valdemar Hambro was born on 8 July 1883. His father, Sir Everard Hambro, was a banker. His patern ...

was to have been captain and reserve but private affairs prevented him from travelling. The British team left Liverpool on August 3 on the Carmania and returned to Southampton on September 19 on the Aquitania. Darwin, the golf correspondent of ''The Times'', travelled with the team and became the official reserve. He was added to the team when Harris could not play, having been bitten "by a giant sandfly". He became "captain in the field" and played the American captain, Fownes, in the final singles match. Fownes had intended to stand down and reserve Jimmy Johnston was due to play Darwin but Harris persuaded Fownes to play.

Monday's foursomes

Tuesday's singles

References

{{coord, 40.909444, -72.450833, type:event, display=title Walker Cup Golf in New York (state) Sports in Long Island