Which sounds good until a glance at the history books reveals that, in the 102 years history of this biennial encounter, GB&I has only twice emerged victorious away from home.
Still, on both occasions the foundation of those wins was clear superiority in the alternate shot format. In 1989 at Peachtree the visitors won five and halved two of the eight matches. And in 2001 at Ocean Forest, the Americans won only two and halved one.
So it is that, if such precedent is to be our guide, the latest GB&I squad led by non-playing captain, Dean Robertson, has taken some positive steps towards a third victory on US soil. In what is the 50th Walker Cup, GB&I won three of the four first morning foursomes at Cypress Point.
“The first session after the foursomes, we were delighted with our performance,” confirmed GB&I skipper, Dean Robertson. “At lunchtime we just regrouped, went through the same process that we would do for any round, checked out the new pin positions, worked out a strategy and then sent the guys out there with a 0-0 in the singles.”
There was, however, a challenge ahead, namely those afternoon singles. Recent history in particular tells us that the Americans often dominate head-to-head contests in the Walker Cup. Only once in the last ten matches - en route to claiming the trophy at Royal Lytham in 2015 - has GB&I “won” the singles. Which perhaps goes a long way to explaining why, at the end of day one this time round, it is the Americans who lead, albeit by the narrowest of margins.
The score is 6 1/2 - 5 1/2, the home side having taken the singles by 5 1/2 to 2 1/2.