Six Irishmen make 19-man Walker Cup squad
Fellow Irishmen Matthew McClean, left, and Hugh Foley celebrate winning their matches during the round of 32 at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
Ireland has six players in the 19-man Great Britain and Ireland squad hoping to make the 10-man team for next year’s Walker Cup clash with the USA at St Andrews.
US Mid-Amateur champion Matthew McClean from Malone, North and South of Ireland winner Hugh Foley from Royal Dublin and Wake Forest star Mark Power are joined by Castle’s Robert Moran, Galway’s Liam Nolan and Douglas’ Peter O’Keeffe.
The biennial encounter will be played over the Old Course from September 2-3, marking 100 years since the match was first played at the Home of Golf.
GB&I is aiming to win back the trophy after narrowly losing 14-12 to the United States of America at Seminole last year with Power and current DP World Tour player John Murphy in the side.
Stuart Wilson, GB&I captain, said: “We have selected a talented group of players who are key to our preparations for the Walker Cup and share our determination to win back the trophy from the United States of America.
The biennial encounter will be played over the Old Course from September 2-3, marking 100 years since the match was first played at the Home of Golf.
“We will be getting together in St Andrews so that the players can really get to grips with the Old Course, understand its subtleties and learn from those individuals who have vast experience of the links.
“Our aim is to select a team which will give us the best chance of winning the match next year. In that regard, we will continue to monitor the players’ performances in amateur events over the coming months and provide them with support and advice.
“There is also still time for golfers not included in the squad to play their way into our plans and we will be keeping a close eye on their results too.”
While there is no place for Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire, who won the East of Ireland title and lost to eventual champion Aldrich Potgieter in the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes this summer, beaten quarter-finalist O’Keeffe (41) could become the oldest player to take part since American Mike McCoy, the current US captain, played at 52 in 2015.
McClean is the highest ranked player in the current World Amateur Golf Ranking at 75th with Moran 101st, Power 125th, Foley 142nd, O’Keeffe 298th and Nolan 335th.
Eight players in the squad — including McClean, Moran and Power — made up the victorious GB&I team which defeated the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy earlier this year
The eight include Power and Barclay Brown, who will be bidding for their second Walker Cup caps.
Scotland’s Calum Scott and England’s John Gough will hope to follow in the footsteps of brothers Sandy and Conor, who both played in the match at Royal Liverpool in 2019, by earning selection for the final GB&I team.
Connor Graham, The R&A Junior Open champion from Perthshire, is also included in the squad.
The final ten-man team will be announced in August.
GB&I Walker Cup squad
James Ashfield (21, Delamere Forest, Wales)
Matthew McClean (29, Malone, Ireland)
Josh Berry (17, Doncaster, England)
Robert Moran (23, Castle, Ireland)
Barclay Brown (21, Hallamshire, England)
Liam Nolan (22, Galway, Ireland)
Archie Davies (21, Carlisle, Wales)
Peter O’Keeffe (41, Douglas, Ireland)
Arron Edwards-Hill (23, Chelmsford, England)
Mark Power (22, Kilkenny, Ireland)
Hugh Foley (25, Royal Dublin, Ireland)
Dylan Shaw-Radford (17, Huddersfield, England)
Connor Graham (16, Blairgowrie, Scotland)
Calum Scott (19, Nairn, Scotland)
John Gough (24, Beaconsfield, England)
Harley Smith (17, The Rayleigh Club, England)
Josh Hill (18, Trump International Dubai, England)
Tyler Weaver (17, Bury St Edmunds, England)
Frank Kennedy (17, Trump National Jupiter, England)
