Deane Beman's favorite Walker Cup memory doesn't involve a match or shot hit in competition against Great Britain/Ireland in 1959 at Muirfield.
Rather, it was during a practice round when a foursome of youngsters drove a group of Scottish golf fans back into their pub, resigned to another Walker Cup loss for GBI.
The 1959 matches were the first in which the United States Golf Association picked college players or amateurs recently out of college to the team. The four rookies on the team were Beman, 21, Jack Nicklaus, 19, Tommy Aaron, 22, and Ward Wettlaufer, 23. The U.S. had won 15 of the previous 16 Walker Cups, and the last six, but the presence of so many young players on the U.S. team (average age, 30.5) had led to optimism that GBI would
break the streak.
"Many of the best golfers over there were still amateurs," the four-time PGA Tour winner and former PGA Tour Commissioner said, referring to legends such as Michael Bonallack and Joe Carr, both in the World Golf Hall of Fame soley due to their amateur careers. "They thought they were going to win in a cakewalk because the U.S. had all these young kids."
Those kids played as a foursome in a practice round the day before the matches began. As they were preparing to tee off at Muirfield's first hole, a group of Scots from a pub within sight of the tee ambled over and began to watch the Americans.
"They came out of the bar with drinks in their hands, convinced that we didn't have the experience to beat Great Britain," Beman said.
Then on the second hole, a short par-4 measuring around 350 yards, Beman and Aaron split the fairway. Wettlaufer drove the green, with the ball coming to rest on the front of the putting surface. Nicklaus then powered his tee shot past Wettlaufer to the back of the green.
"They took one look at that and one guy said, 'let's go back and have another drink … we've lost again,'" Beman said.
Miles Russell joins list of area Walker Cuppers
Beman played in four Walker Cups, and his 1959 experience (the U.S. won 9-3) was the earliest match for a player with First Coast or South Georgia ties.
Since Beman, 16 other area players have competed in the matches, created in 1920 by the USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and named for the USGA President at the time, George Herbert Walker ― the grandfather of President George H.W. Bush and the great-grandfather of President George W. Bush.
Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, at the age of 17, will be the 18th area player when he competes Sept. 5-6 at the Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland. Russell, fourth on the World Amateur Rankings, was among the first four players named to the U.S. team, which also includes No. 1 Preston Stout, No. 3 Tyler Watts, No. 5 William Jennings, No. 6 Josiah Gilbert, No. 7 Ryder Cowan and No. 9 Ethan Fang.
Russell is also the second native of the First Coast to play in the Walker Cup. David Duval was the first in 1991.
It's another in a long list of honors for Russell, who will have to pass on an attempt to win a third Junior Players Championship this week at the TPC Sawgrass to play for his country.
Walker Cup is 'the essence of amateur golf'
What can Russell expect as the U.S. takes on a formidable Great Britain/Ireland team that includes University of Florida player Luke Poulter (ranked eighth on the WAGR), Tyler Weaver (second) and U.S. Amateur champion and Florida State senior Jack Whaley?
"One of the most exciting, nerve-wracking experiences a golfer can play in," said Len Mattiace of Jacksonville, who played for the U.S. in 1987 at Sunningdale, in England. "From an amateur standpoint, it's the biggest event you can play in. The tradition is there, you're playing for your captain, your teammates and your country. There's nothing like it."
Steve Melnyk, a Brunswick, Ga., native who competed in the 1969 and 1971 Ryder Cups, recently returned from a golf outing for past Walker Cup players in North Carolina, with more than 40 of them gathering to share memories of a bond Melnyk said, "stays with you forever."
"I tell people as I get older, 'once a Walker Cupper, always a Walker Cupper,'" he said. "It's hard to put into words sometimes, the camaraderie that you build with guys that lasts a lifetime. It's the essence of amateur golf."
Melnyk recalled a conversation he had with former USGA President Walter Driver.
"Walter said the Walker Cup is not only the best amateur event in golf, but the best event in golf," Melnyk said.
The pressure of playing for the U.S.
Russell does have one advantage that past Walker Cup members didn't have: He's already represented the U.S. in two Junior Presidents Cups and a Junior Ryder Cup.
Since the Junior Ryder Cup was created in 1997 and the Junior Presidents Cup in 2017, and golf wasn't brought back to the Olympics until 2016, American players in previous eras got their first taste of playing for their country at the Walker Cup.
"Playing for the U.S. was pretty special," Beman said.
Beman had an especially good fortnight on the British Isles in 1959. After helping the U.S. win the Walker Cup, most of the team stayed to play the British Amateur, which Beman won.
Beman also got the chance to play his last Walker Cup, in 1971, at the Baltimore Country Club, less than 40 miles from his boyhood home near Washington, D.C.
"That was quite the experience," he said. "It was tight the whole week."
Beman made a putt on the final hole to beat Sandy Saddler 1-up in the final singles session, clinching an 11-11 tie. The U.S, retained the Walker Cup, largely because Beman went 2-1-1 at Turnberry in 1963 in a 12-8 U.S. victory.
Mattiace said the pressure he felt during the final day of the 1987 Walker Cup singles wasn't matched until his first tee shot at Augusta National in the final round of the 2003 Masters, where he went to a playoff before losing to Mike Weir ― not even in his two PGA Tour victories.
"At 19 years old, the nerves were like nothing I experienced," he said. "Our whole lives we had played golf as individuals and now we were playing for our country. There was nothing like that experience on the first day on the first day."
Melnyk, who won the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in 1969, said: "It's a different kind of nervous."
"You knew you were going to represent your country, but you're young and dumb sometimes and don't realize it," he said. "When Vinny Giles and I led the team off [in 1969 at the Milwaukee Country Club] and when they played the National Anthems it was a pretty intimidating situation."
Advice for Miles Russell
The three area players interviewed with Walker Cup experience are all impressed with what Russell has accomplished in amateur and junior golf and had a common theme in advice they might give him: Soak in the experience.
They also have no doubt he will acquit himself well.
"The only thing I would tell him is to take it all in and don't take it for granted," Melnyk said. "He's going to make memories that will last a lifetime. I can't tell you how impressed I am with that young man and everything he's accomplished so far."
"Plays your own game and trust yourself," Beman said. "Enjoy it but don't get so wrapped up in it that you forget it's a competition and you have to put your best game forward. But I don't think I'd have to tell him much. He's such a good player."
"He's a great young man," Mattiace said. "From what I know of him, he will embrace the experience."
First Coast, South Georgia Walker Cup players
Deane Beman, Ponte Vedra Beach: Played in 1959 (Murfield), 1961 (Seattle Golf Club), 1963 (Turnberry) and 1965 (Baltimore Country Club) Walker Cups, with a 7-2-2 record. The U.S. was 3-0-1 in those matches.
Bob Dickson, Ponte Vedra Beach: Went 3-0 in the 1967 matches at Royal St. George, with the U.S. winning 13-7.
Steve Melnyk, Brunswick, Ga.: Went 3-3-1 in two Walker Cups, 1969 at the Milwaukee Golf Club and 1971 at St. Andrews. The U.S. won 10-8 in 1969 and lost 13-11 in 1971.
Billy Tuten, Palatka: Tuten was 1-1 in 1983 at Royal Liverpool, a 13.5-10.5 U.S. victory.
Davis Love III, St. Simons Island, Ga.: Love was 2-0-1 to lead the U.S. to a 13-11 victory at Pine Valley.
Len Mattiace, Jacksonville: Mattice went 2-0 in doubles with Wake Forest teammate Chris Kite in 1987 at Sunningdale and the U.S. won 16.7-7.5. Their second victory was 5 and 3 over Colin Montgomerie and Graeme Shaw.
David Duval, Jacksonville: Duval went 2-1 at Pormarnock to held the U.S. win 14-10.
Jonathan Byrd, St. Simons Island, Ga.: Byrd went 1-2 at the Nairn Golf Club as the U.S. lost to GBI 15-9.
Matt Every, Ponte Vedra Beach: Every went 1-2-1 in 2005 at the Chicago Golf Club as the U.S. edged GBI 12.5-11.5.
Brian Harman, St. Simons Island, Ga.: Harman was 4-1-2 in the 2005 Walker Cup at the Chicago Golf Club and in the 2009 matches at Merion, which the U.S. won 16.5-9.5. Harman was 1-0-1 with Anthony Kim in doubles in 2005 and routed Rhys Davies 6 and 5 in singles.
Billy Horschel, Ponte Vedra Beach: Horschel went 3-1, including two doubles victories playing with Rickie Fowler as the U.S. won 12.5-11.5 at Royal County Down.
Bud Cauley, Jacksonville: Cauley went 3-0 in 2009 at Meriod, including two doubles pairings with Fowler.
Blayne Barber, Lake City: Barber went 0-2-1 in 2011 at Royal Aberdeen, a 14-12 loss for the U.S.
Harris English, St. Simons Island, Ga.: English went 2-2 in 2011, with both of his victories coming in singles.
Kevin Phelan, Ponte Vedra Beach: The Nease graduate and native of Ireland became the first University of North Florida golfer to compete in the Walker Cup as he went 2-1 in a 17-9 U.S. victory in 2013 at the National Golf Links. Phelan beat Max Homa in singles.
Doc Redman, Ponte Vedra Beach: The U.S. wony 19-7 in 2017 at the Los Angeles Country Club, but Redman went 0-3.
Nick Gabrelcik, Jacksonville: He became the first UNF player to compete on the American side in 2023, going 1-2 in a 14.5-11.5 U.S. victory at St. Andrews.
How to watch the Walker Cup
- Sept. 5: Golf Channel, 3:30-8 a.m.
- Sept. 6: Golf Channel, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Area veterans of the Walker Cup hold the amateur event with reverence
