The 1979 Walker Cup, the 27th

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 ...

golf match, was played on 30 and 31 May 1979, at

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for T ...

Gullane Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twel ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, Scotland. The event was won by the United States 15½ to 8½. The United States had an 8½ to 7½ lead after the second day foursomes. In the final round of 8 singles, Great Britain and Ireland had just one win, by Allan Brodie, while the United States won the other 7 matches for a convincing win.

Format

The format for play on Wednesday and Thursday was the same. There were four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 24 matches were played. Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. Rather, each side earned ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ 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.

Great Britain & Ireland

&
Captain: Rodney Foster *

Gordon Brand Jnr Gordon Brand Jnr (19 August 1958 – 31 July 2019) was a Scottish professional golfer. He played on the European Tour, winning eight times, and later the European Senior Tour, winning twice. He played in the 1979 Walker Cup and played twice ...

* Allan Brodie *

Jimmy Buckley James Brian Buckley, ( – 21 March 1943) was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot who became a notable prisoner of war during the Second World War. He died during an escape attempt on 21 March 1943. Fleet Air Arm Buckley's naval career began in t ...

* Iain Carslaw * John Davies *

Geoffrey Godwin Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (given name), including a list of people with the name Geoffrey or Geoffroy * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (musician) (born 1987), Canadian ...

Ian Hutcheon Ian Colin Hutcheon (born February 1942) is a Scottish amateur golfer. He was one of the leading British amateurs of the 1970s. As an individual, he won the Scottish Amateur in 1973 and was Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Champion three times. He re ...

* Michael Kelley *

Brian Marchbank Brian Marchbank (born 20 April 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. He had a successful amateur career in which he won Boys Amateur Championship and the British Youths Open Championship and played in the 1979 Walker Cup. He made over 400 ...

Peter McEvoy Peter Aloysius McEvoy OBE (22 March 1953 – 6 April 2025) was a British amateur golfer for many years, and a golf course designer, golf administrator and golf writer. Early life McEvoy was born in London, but spent much of his childhood liv ...

United States

Captain:

Dick Siderowf Richard L. Siderowf (born July 3, 1937) is an American amateur golfer, who is best known for winning the British Amateur twice. Early life Siderowf was born in New Britain, Connecticut. He attended Duke University and played golf for the Blue D ...

* Doug Clarke * Doug Fischesser * Mike Gove *

Scott Hoch Scott Mabon Hoch ( ; born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the Ryder Cup in 1997 and 2002. Early life Hoch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. While attending Needham B. Broughton High Scho ...

* Jim Holtgrieve * Griff Moody * Mike Peck *

Jay Sigel Robert Jay Sigel (November 13, 1943 – April 19, 2025) was an American professional golfer. He enjoyed one of the more illustrious careers in the history of U.S. amateur golf, before turning pro in 1993 at age 50, when he became a member of th ...

Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton (born April 28, 1958) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions, who achieved 14 victories on the PGA Tour, including the 1983 PGA Championship (a major championship) and the 1983 and 2000 ...

Format

Teams

Great Britain & Ireland

United States

Wednesday's matches

Morning foursomes

Afternoon singles

Thursday's matches

Morning foursomes

Afternoon singles

References