The 1979 Walker Cup, the 27th

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 ...

golf match, was played on 30 and 31 May 1979, at

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...

Gullane Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twel ...

, East Lothian,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The event was won by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

15½ to 8½. The United States had an 8½ to 7½ lead after the second day foursomes. In the final round of 8 singles, Great Britain and Ireland had just one win, by Allan Brodie, while the United States won the other 7 matches for a convincing win.

Format

The format for play on Wednesday and Thursday was the same. There were four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 24 matches were played. Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. Rather, each side earned ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ 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.

Great Britain & Ireland

&
Captain:

Rodney Foster Rodney Foster (born 13 October 1941) is an English amateur golfer. He was one of the leading British amateurs of the 1960s and early 1970s. He represented Great Britain and Ireland in five successive Walker Cup matches from 1965 to 1973 and twice ...

* Gordon Brand Jnr * Allan Brodie *

Jimmy Buckley James Brian Buckley, ( – 21 March 1943) was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot who became a notable prisoner of war during the Second World War. He died during an escape attempt on 21 March 1943. Fleet Air Arm Buckley's naval career began in t ...

* Iain Carslaw * John Davies * Geoffrey Godwin * Ian Hutcheon * Michael Kelley *

Brian Marchbank Brian Marchbank (born 20 April 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. He had a successful amateur career in which he won Boys Amateur Championship and the British Youths Open Championship and played in the 1979 Walker Cup. He made over 400 a ...

Peter McEvoy Peter Aloysius McEvoy OBE (born 22 March 1953) was a leading British amateur golfer for many years, and is now a golf course designer, golf administrator, and golf writer. Early life McEvoy was born in London, but spent much of his childhood l ...

United States

Captain:

Dick Siderowf Richard L. Siderowf (born July 3, 1937) is an American amateur golfer, who is best known for winning the British Amateur twice. Early life Siderowf was born in New Britain, Connecticut. He attended Duke University and played golf for the Blue ...

* Doug Clarke * Doug Fischesser * Mike Gove *

Scott Hoch Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

* Jim Holtgrieve *

Griff Moody Griff may refer to: People * Griff (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Griff (singer), stage name of English singer and songwriter Sarah Faith Griffiths (born 2001) * Nickname of Guy Griffiths (1915–1999), British Second ...

* Mike Peck *

Jay Sigel Robert Jay Sigel (born November 13, 1943) is an American professional golfer. He enjoyed one of the more illustrious careers in the history of U.S. amateur golf, before turning pro in 1993 at age 50, when he became a member of the Senior PGA Tou ...

Format

Teams

Great Britain & Ireland

United States

Wednesday's matches

Morning foursomes

Afternoon singles

Thursday's matches

Morning foursomes

Afternoon singles

References