“Charlie Macdonald was determined to elevate the face of golf architecture in this country, and he did it in spectacular fashion."

Damon Hack returns to his old craft of writing, calling up Ben Crenshaw to talk about The National Golf Links on the eve of the Walker Cup.

Comparing it to next door neighbor Shinnecock Hills...

I asked Crenshaw to compare it to its long-time neighbor, Shinnecock Hills, which will host the United States Open in 2018.

“Shinnecock is a sterner test, and it’s ironic that they are right next door,” he says. “Fun is the operative word at the National.”

Over the years it has become rote to describe the National as an ode to the great Scottish links, but Crenshaw believes that notion is a simplification.

“Yes, a majority of the holes are replicas of famous holes overseas, but they have a touch of character that makes them play a little different,” he says. “You play the Alps hole, the 17th, at Prestwick and then you play the third hole at the National, you can see the features, but they are entirely different,” Crenshaw says.

W Visits The Walker Cup!

The 43rd president of the United States, George Walker Bush, visited the Walker Cup Thursday and judging by the glove on his left hand, teed it up with the USA squad.

The event, named for his great grandfather George Herbert Walker, will witness a flag-raising ceremony Friday followed by rounds Saturday and Sunday (Golf Channel televises from 4-6 ET).

Photos by Chris Keane courtesy of the USGA:

Update on 2013-09-06 03:28 by Geoff

**Julie Williams on the presidential visit.

“He talked a lot about humility and not letting the fame get to us,” said Michael Kim of the U.S. team.

After lunch, the Americans split into fivesomes and Bush laced up his golf shoes for a few quick holes. He played Nos. 1 and 2 with the first fivesome, Nos. 17 and 18 with the second.

Fay: Without Walker Cup, "There would have been no Bobby Jones story as we've come to know it."

A fun premise from David Fay in the September Golf Digest: if it weren't for the Walker Cup, where would Bobby Jones' record stand?

According to the former USGA Executive Director, the Jones as we know him might not be the legend he became.

When played in Great Britain in 1923, 1926 and 1930 (as well as its precursor, the International Match, at Hoylake in 1921), the Walker Cup was scheduled such that the British Amateur and the British Open were played around the same time. Jones took full advantage of bundling the three competitions in 1926 and 1930 by winning the British Open in both of these years as well as his only British Amateur title, in 1930. In 1923, Jones had planned to take advantage of the bundling approach, but Harvard denied his petition to be excused early from classes, so Jones declined his spot on the team. He remained in school and, later that summer, won his first U.S. Open title.

During his competitive career, Jones made only one trip to Great Britain that wasn't in conjunction with a USGA-subsidized competition. That was in 1927, when he successfully defended his British Open title at the Old Course at St. Andrews—a course and a place he had come to love. He did not go for a third straight British Open title in 1928: Work and family obligations along with the steep costs of the trip were simply too much.

USGA Video: CB Macdonald And The National Golf Links

The USGA's Mike Trostel touches on the life of National Golf Links of America visionary creator Charles Blair Macdonald.

Check it out here.

First Walker Cup And NGLA Previews

Dave Anderson sets the table for this week's Walker Cup at The National Golf Links.

Though I'm not sure this statement about the course being unchanged is entirely accurate! However, that statement is a tribute to the beautiful restoration undertaken by Mssrs. Olson and Salinetti.

Its fabled course, designed by Charles Blair Macdonald, the father of American golf architecture, is virtually unchanged since it opened in 1911. New tees at the 7th, 14th and 16th holes have stretched it to 6,995 yards, only 122 yards longer than when Bobby Jones, Francis Ouimet and Chick Evans — three of golf’s revered names — won the inaugural cup matches there in 1922.

Enriching the scene will be the National’s majestic tan stucco clubhouse and landmark windmill overlooking Peconic Bay — no different from when the 20-year-old Jones, who would win a record-sharing four United States Opens and five United States Amateur titles, teed off there. Before those 1922 matches, George Herbert Walker, the president of the United States Golf Association (and grandfather of the 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush), put up an unnamed silver trophy for the winners. “Members of the press,” as reporters were called then, labeled it the “Walker Cup,” and it has been known as that ever since as American teams have built a 34-8-1 record in the biennial series.

John Steinbreder in Global Golf Post gives a nice overview of the club's history, though kindly leaves out a mention of the conditioning problems that plagued them early on, and also reveals some of the things that make the club so cool (besides the amazing course).

The USGA also posts a nice appetite-whetting video that reminds us how special it is to be returning to The National Golf Links of America. A shame we weren't in year one of the Fox Sports deal, this could have been narrated by Regis with much hipper music to appeal to the masses. Oh well.