An edge, that’s all any captain wants. This difficult seaside terrain on the Lancashire coast with its 204 bunkers will provide a stern examination for both teams in this 45th edition of the Walker Cup.
But Nigel Edwards, non-playing captain of Britain and Ireland, is convinced he doesn’t merely have an edge. Rather he possesses a royal flush to lay down on the table in a bid to defeat the USA.
Edwards is talking about the five Irish players, whom he believes could potentially be a strong, winning hand.
“I would say the team spirit the five Irish bring to the table, because they have grown up playing international golf together for the last four or five years, is something really special. It’s a first for Ireland [having five players], and it goes on the back of the success of the professional golfers [from Ireland] that have won Major championships,” Edwards says.
No pressure so, lads.
Yet, the grin that comes to Gavin Moynihan’s face as Edwards speaks those words provides confirmation in its own way that this team is relaxed and up for the task.
Rather curiously, Moynihan is asked at the official press conference if it would be remembered as “the Irish team” if defeat was to be their lot?
“No . . . three Scots and two English as well,” Moynihan says, a glint in his eye. Touché!
And Moynihan – the only survivor on the B&I team from the defeat stateside of 2013 – has been entrusted with anchoring the bid to reclaim the trophy. The 20-year-old Dubliner has been paired with Jack Hume in the final foursomes of the first session and will also be last man out in the singles, where he is the anchor in facing down Jordan Niebrugge, the amateur who won the silver medal at the British Open at St Andrews in July.
Unbeaten record
All five Irish players are involved in the foursomes: as anticipated, the partnership of Paul Dunne and Gary Hurley which has been so effective for Ireland in recent years has been retained, with the Wicklow-Waterford axis paired to face Beau Hossler and Denny McCarthy; Cormac Sharvin links up with Scotland’s Jack McDonald to face Niebrugge and Robby Shelton, while Moynihan and Hume take on the two McCoys, Lee and Mike.
That Dunne-Hurley pairing was as copperfastened as any coming in here, with an unbeaten record in recent home internationals and European team championships – 8½ points from a possible nine – that left Edwards abiding by the long-held motto of “If it ain’t broken don’t fix it”. Four of the five Irish players are also involved in the singles, with Sharvin the odd man out.
And, for Dunne, after his heroics at the Open where he led after 54 holes, this will mark the end of his amateur career.
“It’s nice to fulfil a goal I’ve had for a long time,” said Dunne. Winning would, of course, make it all the more fulfilling.
The respective captains have also done things their own way. Edwards called in Paul McGinley, last year’s winning Ryder Cup captain, to have a chat earlier this week with his team.
Meanwhile, USA captain Spider Miller got his team to meet Arnold Palmer before the transatlantic trip and had his predecessor as captain, Jimmy Holtgrieve, stand in a shower – full blast – to ensure the waterproofs for his team were fully resistant. He didn’t want a recurrence of what happened the US gear at Celtic Manor in 2010 when the raingear seeped water.
Swansong
For Moynihan – and a few others like Dunne – this Walker Cup will provide a swansong to the amateur game, but there was never any thought of him jumping ship early into the pro ranks.
“No, never,” Moynihan says. “It never even crossed my mind. Most of the boys turned pro straight after two years ago, a good few turned pro this year, but it never came into my head at all. I just assumed I would get back here.
“I hit a bit of a rough patch in March, April but from May on I’ve played well. I’m glad to be here, can’t wait to get going. I played well two years ago, just the result wasn’t what we wanted; just try and reverse that this year.”
Moynihan, like Edwards, is convinced the Irish contingent have a big part to play.
“Normally, each year, we wonder will we get two. Will we even get one? Five of us, half the team, it is completely outrageous but we’re all here on merit. I honestly think we’ve been the top five [players] of the year. Every event we have played, one of us has won it or come second or third or fourth,” says Moynihan, who feels the entire team are “playing nicely. All of us are in a good frame of mind. There’s a few nerves but I’ve told the boys to enjoy the week, just enjoy it, because that’s when you play the best golf.”
All through the week, messages of one kind or another have come the way of the British and Irish team. From Pádraig Harrington. From Justin Rose. From Rory McIlroy. This newest generation are following in such footsteps and, if there is a green hue to it all, then all the better.
TODAY'S DRAW
Foursomes
9.0: A Chesters/J Mullen v M McNealy/H Stewart
9.10:P Dunne/G Hurley v B Hossler/D McCarthy
9.20: C Sharvin/J McDonaldv J Niebrugge/R Shelton
9.30: J Hume/G Moynihan v L McCoy/M McCoy
Singles
1.45: A Chesters v B DeChambeau
1.55: P Dunne v H Stewart
2.05: G Forrest v S Harvey
2.15: J Mullen v D McCarthy
2.25: E Ferguson v M McNealy
2.35: G Hurley v R Shelton
2.45: J Hume v B Hossler
2.55: G Moynihan v J Niebrugge
(Team GB & Ireland names first)
