The 10 amateur stars representing Great Britain and Ireland at the 49th Walker Cup have been selected for the showdown against their American counterparts at St Andrews on September 2-3

GB&I captain Stuart Wilson revealed the names on Monday as the home side are bidding to regain the trophy for the first time since 2015, when they secured a 16.5-9.5 victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

“We have selected the 10 players who we believe will give us the best chance of regaining the Walker Cup against the United States of America,” said Wilson. “This is their opportunity to perform on the biggest stage in amateur golf and have their name written alongside some of the greatest names in the history of the sport by winning the Walker Cup. There is arguably no more iconic venue in the world to achieve that feat than on the Old Course in St Andrews.

“We look forward to the challenge of winning the match next week and I know these players will give it their all to win back the trophy in front of a home crowd.”

The GB&I team
James Ashfield, Wales, Delamere Forest, 22
Jack Bigham, England, Harpenden, 19
Barclay Brown, England, Hallamshire, 22
John Gough, England, The Berkshire, 24
Connor Graham, Scotland, Blairgowrie, 17
Alex Maguire, Ireland, Laytown & Bettystown, 22
Matthew McClean, Ireland, Malone, 30
Liam Nolan, Ireland, Galway, 23
Mark Power, Ireland, Kilkenny, 23
Calum Scott, Scotland, Nairn, 20
Reserves
Tyler Weaver, England, Bury St Edmonds, 18
Caolan Rafferty, Ireland, Dundalk, 30

Player focus

James Ashfield
Ashfield is representing GB&I in the Walker Cup for the first time. In 2023, the member of Wales’ national team has finished runner-up in both the Lytham Trophy and European Amateur Championship in Estonia, finished tied third in the Sotogrande Cup in Spain and reached the last-64 in The Amateur Championship at Hillside. In 2022, he won the Welsh Amateur Championship, reached the last-16 in The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and represented Wales in the Eisenhower Trophy in France. Two years ago at Nairn, he reached the semi-finals of The Amateur.

Jack Bigham
In 2023, the member of England’s national team has recorded top-12s in both the European Amateur Championship in Estonia and St Andrews Links Trophy, represented his country in both the European Amateur Team Championships and The R&A Men’s Home Internationals and completed his first collegiate season at Florida State University. In 2021, he won the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship at Royal Cinque Ports and reached the quarter-finals of the English Amateur at Moortown and the last-16 of The Amateur Championship at Nairn. He makes his Walker Cup debut in St Andrews.

Barclay Brown
Brown makes a second Walker Cup appearance after playing at Seminole in 2021. So far in 2023, the member of England’s national team has earned All-America honours in his senior season at Stanford University, finished tied-fourth in the NCAA Division One Individual Championship and competed in the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club. In 2022, he reached the last-64 in The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and after qualifying for The 150th Open at St Andrews, was tied 12th after 36 holes to make the cut. In that year, he was also a member of the winning GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe. Reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship in 2020 and the semi-finals of The R&A Boys’ Amateur in 2019.

John Gough
Gough has been eager to make the GB&I team given his younger brother, Conor, represented GB&I at Royal Liverpool in 2019. So far in 2023, the member of England’s national team has won both the Australian Master of the Amateurs and Irish Amateur Open, finished runner-up in both the Avondale Amateur and the Sotogrande Cup, reached the last-32 in The Amateur Championship and made the cut in the DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters. In 2022, he won both the Spanish Amateur and the Lytham Trophy, finished runner-up in the Scottish Amateur Open, reached the semi-finals of The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and represented England in the Eisenhower Trophy. Before his defeat to Sam Bairstow in the semi-finals of The Amateur last June, he had gone on a run of only losing one of 24 matchplay ties. Last year, he was also a member of the winning GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe.

Connor Graham
At the age of 17, Graham becomes one of the youngest players on either team to ever compete in the Walker Cup. So far in 2023, the member of Scotland’s national team has won the Scottish Amateur Open and finished runner-up in the French Under-18 Amateur Open. In 2022, he won The R&A Junior Open at Monifieth and finished runner-up in the Lytham Trophy, tied third in the Scottish Boys’ Amateur Open and shared seventh in the St Andrews Links Trophy.

Alex Maguire. R&A

Alex Maguire
After winning the first-ever Open Amateur Series to qualify for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool in July, Maguire has achieved another highlight. This year, the member of Ireland’s national team has also won the St Andrews Links Trophy and East of Ireland Amateur Open, reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship at Hillside, finished fourth in the Irish Amateur Open and closed his senior season at Florida Atlantic University with a tie for fourth in his conference championship. In 2022, he won the East of Ireland Amateur Open and reached the semi-finals of The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes. In 2021, he won the North of Ireland Amateur Open and reached the quarter-finals of the South of Ireland Amateur Open.

Matthew McClean
A Walker Cup debut for McClean. Last year, he won the US Mid-Amateur Championship by defeating Hugh Foley in the final at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. To date in 2023, the member of Ireland’s national team has competed in both the Masters Tournament and the US Open and recorded top-ten finishes in the South African Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur Open and Brabazon Trophy. He also reached the last-64 of the US Amateur and the semi-finals of the Western Amateur. In addition to his USGA championship title in 2022, he also finished runner-up in both the Irish Amateur Open and North of Ireland Amateur Open, reached the last-16 in The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes and represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy. In that year, he was also a member of the winning GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe.

Liam Nolan
Nolan makes his Walker Cup debut thanks to a fine season in which the member of Ireland’s national team has won the South American Amateur in Ecuador and Brabazon Trophy and reached the last-64 in The Amateur Championship at Hillside. In 2022, he recorded top-four finishes in the North of Ireland, South of Ireland and West of Ireland Amateur Open championships and finished in a share of tenth in the Brabazon Trophy and tied-14th in the St Andrews Links Trophy. In 2021, he won an R&A Student Tour Series event in Ireland and finished runner-up in both the West of Ireland Amateur Open and Connacht Men’s Stroke Play.

Mark Power
A second Walker Cup appearance for Power who went 3-1-0 in 2021 at Seminole and was 2-0-0 in foursomes with John Murphy. To date in 2023, the Ireland national team player has completed his fourth collegiate season at Wake Forest University and finished tied 13th in the European Amateur Championship in Estonia. In 2022, he reached the last-32 in The Amateur Championship and the last-64 in the US Amateur and represented Ireland in the Eisenhower Trophy. In that year, he was also a member of the winning GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe. In 2020, he finished runner-up in the Brabazon Trophy, reached the semi-finals of The Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale and represented the International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup.

Calum Scott
In 2019, his older brother Sandy represented GB&I at Royal Liverpool and Scott now joins the family roll of honour. This year, the member of Scotland’s national team finished tied third in the St Andrews Links Trophy, reached the last-64 in The Amateur Championship at Hillside, made the last-32 of the US Amateur and completed his second season at Texas Tech University. In 2022, he finished third in the European Amateur Championship and represented Scotland in the Eisenhower Trophy. In that year, he was also a member of the winning GB&I team in the St Andrews Trophy against the Continent of Europe. In 2021, he reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship over his home course of Nairn and reached the last-16 in both The R&A Boys’ Amateur and Scottish Amateur Open.

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The Continent of Europe continued its dominance of the Vagliano and Junior Vagliano trophies by winning the senior and junior international matches against Great Britain and Ireland at Royal Dornoch.

GB&I is now without a win in the Vagliano Trophy since 2005 following today’s 13½-10½ defeat, while the junior team fell just short of securing its first win in the Junior Vagliano Trophy after the match finished tied at 9-9.

A combination of Spanish, German, Belgian and Swedish women gave the Continent of Europe captain Ane Urchegui Garcia victory as she led the senior team for the first time.

“I’m so happy,” Urchegui Garcia said after Germany’s Helen Briem earned the winning point, taking her side to the required 12½ points with a 2&1 singles victory over Caley McGinty.

“I feel very proud of the players. This was a very tough match to play and I want to congratulate Great Britain and Ireland captain Maria Dunne because her team played great golf.”

GB&I won the morning foursomes 2½-1½ to level the contest at eight points apiece with eight singles left to play. Strong winds and driving rain should have favoured the home side on traditional links, but the anticipated tense finish turned into something of a damp squib thanks to the excellent play of the Continent of Europe.

Two of the first three singles sessions went GB&I’s way with England’s Lottie Woad defeating Savannah de Bock of Belgium 2&1 and Aine Donegan beating world number one Ingrid Lindblad by the same score after a halve in the lead match between Ireland’s Beth Coulter and Rocio Tejedo of Spain. Those were the only GB&I wins in the singles before the bottom five players in Urchegui Garcia’s order reeled off victories.

“My team was very nervous after losing the morning foursomes but they were determined to go out and fight and they did,” Urchegui Garcia added. “I didn’t have to say anything to them at lunchtime to try to inspire them. They were doing that on their own. They were cheering each other on because there was such a spirit in my team. They all played for each other and inspired each other to this victory.”

GB&I captain Dunne took heart from winning the morning foursomes, hoping her team would kick to victory. 

“I’m gutted for my players,” said Dunne. “We gave it our all. I asked them to fight for every point. They did and I couldn’t really have asked for anything more from them.

“They fought hard to level the match after this morning’s foursomes but we just came up short. On another day the result would have gone our way but we can do ourselves proud because it was so close. The European team was just stronger on the day. They were better putters than us this afternoon, and that was obvious over the two days. We can be proud of ourselves for the way we fought.”

Briem was one of three players on the Continent of Europe team to record three points out of four along with Spain’s Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio and Meja Ortengren of Sweden. Only Woad on the GB&I team managed that feat.

There was a modicum of consolation for GB&I in that the Junior Vagliano Trophy finished level on nine points apiece. However, it meant that the Continent of Europe secured the trophy for the eighth straight time having never lost since the inaugural 2011 match.

“It says a lot about the strength of junior golf on the Continent of Europe,” said Continent of Europe captain Myrte Eikenaar, who was skippering the junior team for the third straight occasion.

“It says a lot about the girls that we’ve kept the trophy. They’re not just great golfers but they bring a lot of energy to the team, and it’s great that in a few days, they can become so tight-knit and fight for each other.

“It’s good to see that GB&I keeps drawing closer. Every year it gets tighter and that’s good for the match. I’d love to have gotten the win because it always feels better, but it’s great to retain the trophy and I’m proud of the girls.”

Irish pair Costello and Dillon deserve special mention. They earned three and a half points each out of a possible four. Germany’s Sofia Maier-Borst was top points earner for the Continent of Europe. Costello and Dillon will be looking to graduate to the senior team in two years’ time, hoping to help a GB&I team finally get that elusive pot of gold.

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