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Walker Cup
Walker Cup: Robertson excited to lead GB&I hopes at Cypress Point
01 Sep 25
6 mins
“Gallus” is one of the many great and evocative adjectives found in the old Scots language. It means daring, but not too daring. It means cheeky, but not too cheeky. It means mischievous, but not too mischievous. It conveys confidence in one’s ability, but falls short of arrogance. And, perhaps best of all, the genuinely gallus amongst us invariably stimulate feelings of affection in others.
Dean Robertson is gallus through and through. Ask anyone who knows him and smiles appear almost instantly. The man who played his amateur golf at Cochrane Castle in the town of Johnstone near Glasgow has always been fun to be around. “Pawky” (lively) is how his fellow Caledonians would likely describe his sense of humour. Hang on, though. Robertson also owns a serious side. History-making beckons for the 55-year old Canadian-born Scot in what will be the 50th instalment of the forthcoming Walker Cup match between Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America at Cypress Point (6-7 September).Robertson experience
He will be the first professional golfer to skipper GB&I in the biennial contest that began in 1922 with an 8-4 American victory at the National Golf Links of America on Long Island. Which is not say Robertson hasn’t ticked all of the non-paying boxes required of previous non-playing captains. A former Scottish Amateur champion, he was part of the GB&I squads at both the 1993 Walker Cup (where he defeated the legendary Jay Sigel 3&2 in singles) and Eisenhower Trophy. Then there is the time he spent at Midland College in Texas, before embarking on a 13-year, 239-tournament DP World Tour career that earned him €1,884,270 in prize money as well as the 1999 Italian Open title (where he edged out three-time Walker Cup player, Pádraig Harrington, by a single shot). Throw in a 15-year tenure as Head of Golf at the University of Stirling – during which his charges became the first overseas side to win an NCAA Division I event, the 2018 Yale Intercollegiate – and his role as head coach of the European team in the 2009 Arnold Palmer Cup and Robertson is uniquely well-qualified to lead this year’s body of Walker Cup men (and one woman in Captain’s assistant, Katherine O’Connor).
Dean Robertson is the first professional golfer to captain GB&I at the Walker Cup.
Russell assisting
“Maybe the best thing about Dean is that he brings all kinds of attributes to the role of Captain,” says Robertson’s 1993 Walker Cup team-mate, Raymond Russell, who is also assisting him. “Enthusiasm. Professionalism. Experience of man-management from his time at Stirling. And maybe most importantly, he is open to learning every aspect of those he will lead into competition. “For him, it’s not just about the golf. He wants to know what makes them comfortable within a team environment – and what makes them uncomfortable. This team will enter the matches incredibly well-prepared.” Indeed, only a few minutes listening to the enthusiasm and level of detail Robertson displays when talking of his latest assignment and it becomes clear Russell’s assessment is clearly well-founded. The storied northern California course presents unusual and subtly-nuanced challenges in a modern game dominated by power and speed, so the GB&I squad – five of whom were part of a reconnaissance visit to Cypress Point last October – is made up of the ten men their Captain feels are best-placed to answer those specific questions.Cypress Point strategy
“We are going to need our players to compete with what I call ‘strategic intelligence,’” claims Robertson. “The modern game is more and more about pure distance and speed. But Cypress Point is not quite like that. It’s only about 6,600-yards, which is almost 1,000-yards shorter than many of the courses my players are used to seeing. “Approach play is going to be different. Most shots will be between 40-100 yards. So those shots will need to be controlled. They can’t be hit flat-out with lots of spin. They need to be caressed. So the craft of the game will come to the fore. It’s not going to be about science. Art will have its place.” He continues, “In other words, this is a course that demands ‘manners.’ And if you don’t have those, you are going to be humbled quite quickly. Maybe even embarrassed. You have to plot your way round, keeping the ball below the hole. Do that and you will be hard to beat.” At least partly responsible for that attention to detail is Robertson’s own experience as a Walker Cup player. More than three decades on from the 19-5 loss GB&I endured at Interlachen, he has not forgotten what went wrong for a talented team that boasted as many as eight future Tour players.Knowledge from 1993
“When I went to Interlachen I faced a course set-up with which I was totally unfamiliar,” says Robertson. “Any strengths we all had were negated quite quickly. In my case, putting was the best part of my game, but I was faced with green speeds I had never seen the likes of before. They were ‘electric.’ Today, it’s different. The players in my team this year have seen it all before when it comes to course set-up. Nothing at Cypress will come as a surprise.” “I loved my Walker Cup though,” he insists. “What I remember most is the camaraderie. Friends I made then I still have to this day. That goes further than the players, too. It extends to the parents. The journey we were all on represented the best days of our lives. My experience at Interlachen was filled with excitement. What we lacked, however, was an understanding of the skill-set required to compete successfully on that examination paper.” At least in one respect, nothing has changed since 1993. It is hard not to underestimate the extent of the challenge this GB&I side faces. One glance at the World Amateur Golf Ranking® of both teams makes that clear; on paper the USA squad will start strong favourites to prevent what would be only the third Old World victory on American soil. As you’d expect though, Robertson is far from intimidated, drawing strength from his side’s recent - and decisive – victory over the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy.
Dean Robertson with Luke Poulter at the St Andrews Trophy in July.