But perhaps nowhere combines spectacular scenery and thought-provoking golf more than Cypress Point. “Breathtaking,” was how the captain of the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team, Dean Robertson, described the course at the opening press conference of the week.
So it is that watching the 50th GB&I side in practice was always going to be a battle for attention. On one side, the always distracting sights and sounds of this almost-peerless venue. On the other, assessing the play of the young men charged with reclaiming the trophy from the United States this weekend.
Let’s say the first two holes were both halved, the stunning scenery matched by the succession of fine shots struck by the GB&I squad. Which brings us to the 155-yard par-3 3rd hole. It almost goes without saying this is a picturesque hole, the green framed beautifully by some typically-striking Cypress Point bunkers. One spectator standing idly by surmised that the perfect club to a putting surface that sits slightly lower than the tee might be a 7-iron or even a “wee six.”
That notion was quickly made to look both old-fashioned and silly. Hitting a “smooth 9-iron,” Luke Poulter made a hole-in-one. The ball, perfectly stuck, landed just to the right of the pin, spun left and disappeared. Cue the obligatory high-fives and the obvious conclusion that such a feat had come along two days early. Remarkably, only American Max Homa, who made an ace on the 6th hole at the National Golf Links of America during his second day singles loss to Kevin Phelan in 2013, is the only man thought to have played a Walker Cup hole in less than two shots.