The 1961 Walker Cup, the 18th

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

Match, was played on September 1 and 2, 1961, at Seattle Golf Club,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. The United States won by 11 matches to 1. This was the last Walker Cup in which 36-hole matches were played. Great Britain and Ireland's only success came when

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beat Charlie Smith in the singles.

Format

Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were played on Friday and eight singles matches on Saturday. Each of the 12 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 36th hole extra holes were not played. The team with most points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.

Teams

Ten players for the United States and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.

United States

Captain: Jack Westland * Gene Andrews *

Deane Beman } Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer, golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. Early life Beman was born in Washington, D.C.. He attended the University o ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

* Bob Cochran *

Charles Coe Charles Robert Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer who is considered by many to be one of the greatest American amateurs in history. Early life Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, Coe served as a pilot during World ...

* Robert W. Gardner *

Bill Hyndman William Hyndman III (December 25, 1915 – September 6, 2001) was an American amateur golfer. Hyndman was born in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Hyndman won many amateur tournaments, over an almost 50-year span, including the U.S. Senior Amateur tw ...

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

* Charlie Smith *

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Great Britain and Ireland

&
Captain: Charles Lawrie * David Blair *

Michael Bonallack Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, Order of the British Empire, OBE (31 December 1934 – 26 September 2023) was an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century. Early life Bonallack wa ...

Joe Carr Joseph Benedict Carr (22 February 1922 – 3 June 2004) was an Irish amateur golfer. Early life Carr was born in Inchicore, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, to George and Margaret Mary "Missie" Waters (the fifth of seven children). At 10 days ol ...

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Michael Lunt Michael Stanley Randle Lunt (20 May 1935 – 22 May 2007) was an English amateur golfer. He won the Amateur Championship in 1963 and played in the Walker Cup four times. Lunt was the son of Stanley Lunt who won the English Amateur in 1934. Lun ...

Ronnie Shade Ronald David Bell Mitchell Shade, MBE (18 October 1938 – 10 September 1986) was a Scottish professional golfer. Life and career Shade was born in Edinburgh and grew up playing golf at Duddingston Golf Club in that city. He enjoyed unrivalle ...

Format

Teams

United States

Great Britain and Ireland

Friday's foursomes

Saturday's singles

References