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Walker Cup
Walker Cup: Practice makes perfect at Cypress Point
05 Sep 25
5 mins
There are, of course, many breathtaking walks in the world of golf. The Old Course at St Andrews immediately springs to mind. So does Royal Melbourne on the other side of the planet. And Pebble Beach isn’t too shabby when it comes to spectacular vistas. It’s a competitive field.
But perhaps nowhere combines spectacular scenery and thought-provoking golf more than Cypress Point. “Breathtaking,” was how the Captain of the Great Britain and 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 of America 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.
Luke Poulter celebrated an ace during practice at Cypress Point.
Still, that bit of excitement was only the start of what was clearly an “all-business” morning on the course for the visiting side. “Unique” is one of the most over-used words in any vocabulary, but Cypress Point fully justifies its use. So while the GB&I players were surely guilty of the occasional glance at their surroundings, how best to plot their way round this Alister Mackenzie-design was obviously uppermost in their minds.
Which is as it should be. As Robertson was quick to emphasise, “strategy and keeping the ball below the hole” are going to be parts of the separation between success and failure this weekend. Which is not to say there isn’t a lot more to Cypress Point. Distance control is another vital facet.
“I think we're still learning the course,” said the GB&I skipper. “I think every day is a discovery. Having played at the Old Course on many occasions, you learn something new all the time. When these courses get set up in championship conditions, the characteristics change very quickly - and this one is changing every day. So we're going to have to be versatile. We need to be able to adapt. That's something that's going to happen over the coming days, so we need to be ready for that.”
As part of that overall process, the GB&I squad spent an inordinate amount of time putting not to the flags in play but to various discs thrown down across every putting surface. Educated guessing was in play. Which made sense and led to some rather interesting possibilities.
At the more extreme end of those, players were hitting putts with their backs to the holes, such was the combination of slope and break involved. Other putts were being struck off greens, up slopes and running back to the pins. It was easy to laugh at times, but this was serious business. On greens such as these, imagination and touch are going to be vital attributes.
Players spent time getting to grips with the greens.
Speaking of strategy, perhaps nowhere is there the possibility for tactical play than at the world-famous par-3 16th. Should an American with the honour, find the Pacific Ocean with his tee-shot, the GB&I player has an obvious decision to make. Should he follow his opponent’s lead and go for the distant green across the perilous chasm? Or does he hit a relatively safe 9-iron to the fairway on the left, followed by a 60-yard pitch to the green?
To answer those questions, a journalist approached Raymond Russell, one of Robertson’s two assistants. As ever, the former European Tour player was ahead of the game, having already made each of the GB&I players turn the hole into a par-4 (or at least a ‘par 3 1/2’). So all are well aware of the yardages involved for both shots in that scenario.
Still, as USA captain Nathan Smith was quick to emphasise, every situation is at least a little different. So he is leaving it up to his players to react as they see fit should their opponent find the water off the 16th tee.
“I'd probably say it's situational,” said Smith. “I'd say some guys could do it (go for the green). I think it depends where the match is at that point. But a lot goes into that, honestly. It's probably a game-time decision with how the player feels and how the match is going.”
Just one more thing to think about amidst all that scenery.
The Walker Cup takes place at Cypress Point, USA, on Saturday 6 September and Sunday 7 September.