GB&I Team Prepared To Cope With Any Spookiness Between Hotel And Golf Course

Sam Morgan interviews GB&I Captain Nigel Edwards who is taking thorough to new levels.

But within this shift the ability to assess the individual remains: “Does that player fit in? Does that player fit with that player? Do we need two Scots together? Two English together? Somebody may need an arm round the shoulder from another player”.

Good to see how they put nationalities aside! Go on...

Similarly, while nothing was left to chance in the build up to the match, there was also an emphasis on attention to detail. Edwards says, “We wanted to make sure that everyone is familiar with the hotel, with the journey from the hotel to the golf course, the course and the club, so that when we get there they’re not spooked by anything.”

Okay, it's a Walker Cup, not a kindergartner's first day of school!

In this week's Pond Scrum, Elling and Huggan were asked about the legitimacy of the Walker Cup among the international competitions.

Elling: It doesn't much rank at all, though it should. For purity of sport, the asinine political entanglements of the team selections process aside, it's about as good as it gets. But I am an admirer from afar. John has actually attended many and seen plenty of future stars in their last amateur hurrahs.

Huggan: The Walker Cup is old-time golf, which is good and bad. The atmosphere, courtesy of many stuffy R&A and USGA types, is one where working-class people need not apply. But the golf is terrific, especially as you get to walk the fairways with the players.

Elling: Virtually every younger top-50 American player these days took his final bows as an amateur at the Walker. Fowler, Johnson, Holmes, Kim, Overton and the list goes on and on. Give us a scouting report on the venue, will ya? Might as well use your local Scottish know-how for the greater edification of golfing mankind.

Huggan: Oh yes, the selections. It is obvious to all that neither team has its 10 best players. Both systems are idiotic and out of date. I'm hoping that new boss Mike Davis of the USGA -- a forward-looking type -- will make changes for the next matches. I'm just looking forward to hearing both captains trying to tell us they each have picked their best sides.