The 1961 Walker Cup, the 18th

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 played on September 1 and 2, 1961, at Seattle Golf Club,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. The United States won by 11 matches to 1. This was the last Walker Cup in which 36-hole matches were played. Great Britain and Ireland's only success came when Martin Christmas beat Charlie Smith in the singles.

Format

Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were played on Friday and eight singles matches on Saturday. Each of the 12 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 36th hole extra holes were not played. The team with most points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.

Teams

Ten players for the United States and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.

United States

Captain:

Jack Westland Alfred John "Jack" Westland (December 14, 1904 – November 3, 1982) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1953 to 1965. He represented the Second Congressional District of Wash ...

* Gene Andrews *

Deane Beman } Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer, golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. Early years Born in Washington, D.C., Beman attended the University of Maryl ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

* Bob Cochran * Charles Coe * Robert W. Gardner *

Bill Hyndman William Hyndman III (December 25, 1915 – September 6, 2001) was an American amateur golfer. Hyndman was born in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Hyndman won many amateur tournaments, over an almost 50-year span, including the U.S. Senior Amateur tw ...

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

* Charlie Smith *

Bud Taylor Charles Bernard "Bud" Taylor (July 22, 1903 – March 6, 1962) was an American boxer from Terre Haute, Indiana. Nicknamed the ''"Blonde Terror of Terre Haute"'', he held the NBA World Bantamweight Championship during his career in 1927. '' The ...

Great Britain & Ireland

&
Captain:

Charles Lawrie Charles Dundas Lawrie (8 February 1923 – 31 August 1976) was a Scottish amateur golfer, administrator, and golf course architect; described as one of golf architecture's finest representatives. Personal life Lawrie was born on 8 February ...

* David Blair *

Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE (born 31 December 1934) is an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Bonallack was born in Chigwell, Essex. He learned the game of golf under t ...

* Joe Carr * Brian Chapman * Martin Christmas * David Frame * Gordon Huddy * Michael Lunt *

Ronnie Shade Ronald David Bell Mitchell Shade, MBE (18 October 1938 – 10 September 1986) was a Scottish professional golfer. Life and career Shade was born in Edinburgh and grew up playing golf at Duddingston Golf Club in that city. He enjoyed unrivalled ...

Format

Teams

United States

Great Britain & Ireland

Friday's foursomes

Saturday's singles

References