By John Strege
It was, more or less, an afternoon victory lap, a means by which to assign a number illustrative of the U.S. Walker Cup team’s dominant performance.

The number was 19, equalling the most points ever scored in a Walker Cup, and its 19-7 landslide victory over the Great Britain & Ireland team was the second widest margin of victory in the history of the event.

Victory had become a formality by virtue of the lead the U.S. had established from Saturday afternoon singles and Sunday morning foursomes.

It took an 11-5 lead into Sunday’s singles and deftly completed its task, winning eight of 10 matches, to avenge a seven-point loss for U.S. captain Spider Miller and one of his players, Maverick McNealy, in 2015.

“It’s not easy to lose,” a jubilant Miller said, “and Mav was there with me. We had a choice to be either the 2017 Walker Cup team or the winning 2017 Walker Cup team. and it was up to them and how they played and their performance, and they chose to be known as the winning team and they did that. And it’s a memory for these guys. These guys, when they’re my age, they will have the defining moments in golf in their careers, and it’s going to be a number of things that will define them, but they will always remember the Walker Cup and they will always remember being a part of this winning team. And that’s what it’s all about. That’s why it is so special.”

McNealy went 0-2-1 in the ’15 Walker Cup, but more than made amends this time, when he went 4-0 in the final tournament of his amateur career.

“I think it starts with the U.S. team getting that big trophy, and that was our goal at the beginning of the week. I’m so excited to be part of the 2017 winning Walker Cup team,” McNealy said. “That’s what’s most important to me. I’m so glad we could win this for our team, win this for Captain [Spider] Miller, and win this for the country.”

McNealy, in fact, was only one of three U.S. players to go 4-0, a first in the Walker Cup. Doug Ghim, the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur, and Collin Morikawa also went 4-0.

Ghim defeated Matthew Jordan, 3 and 1, to complete his sweep. Only a few weeks ago, Ghim was on the wrong end of a match in these parts, losing the U.S. Amateur Championship to Doc Redman on the 37th hole.

“Well, the Monday after the U.S. Amateur, I was on Twitter and it kind of just hit me,” he said. “Yeah, certainly I was disappointed that I didn’t get the W at Riviera, but I played great and I just ran into a really tough competitor.

“But I was really excited for the Walker Cup, and I really wanted to play well. And, more than anything, it wasn’t so much that I wanted to get redemption for the U.S. Amateur, it was more like I really wanted to win for Cap [Miller]. I know how much this means to him and I’m just so happy that we could pull it through and win for him. He’s such a great guy.”

Morikawa, meanwhile, defeated Harry Ellis, 2 and 1, after which he called his performance “a dream come true.

“I’ve never really gone undefeated in one of these team events,” he said. “And just to have some momentum to know that I can do it against these guys, these guys are the best [amateur] players around the country and the entire world, really. So just to come out here and I just had a great time with everyone. I’m just glad we can come out with a win.”

It was close only for a short time, on Saturday morning, when GB&I played the Americans to a 2-2 tie. After that, it was all red, white and blue. the U.S. won the next three sessions, 6-2, 3-1 and 8-2, its most dominating victory since it beat GB&I, 19-5, in 1993.

“I guess back home we call it a bit of a hedgehog day,” GB&I acting captain Andrew Ingram said. “We couldn’t get anything moving forward. And it is just wonderful for these guys to play at the very top of amateur golf, it’s great for their career.

“The Americans are amazing. What a team.”

The post U.S. delivers dominating performance, wins Walker Cup, 19-7 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So what should we expect from Streamsong Black? The rolling scale of the property, which will play to a par 73, is certainly unique among big-time designs (only two courses in Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest and Second 100 Greatest are par 73s: Garden City Golf Club, No. 46 on our last 100 Greatest ranking and Kapalua’s Plantation course, No. 112).

And most notably is the way in which Hanse, his design partner Jim Wagner and the rest of his team were inspired by the look and feel of Australian Sand Belt courses and their bunkering to incorporate similar looks in Florida.

Hanse, whose Rio Olympic course design hosted last year’s Olympics, and who has worked on redesigns for some of the country’s most prestigious clubs, such as Winged Foot Golf Club, Merion Golf Club and Los Angeles Country Club, answered five questions about Streamsong Black and his other projects from Golf Digest’s Stephen Hennessey.

Laurence Lambrecht
The 10th hole at the soon-to-be-open Streamsong Black

1. What it’s like for you, when a project is done like Streamsong Black for a while, and you’re just waiting for feedback?

“It’s funny, I was just talking to [executive vice president of Mosaic, the developers of Streamsong] Richard Mack this weekend, about this. It’s been over a year now that we stopped construction on it. What’s great is that the Black will be at a level of maturity where Rusty Mercer, the superintendent, should have it in awesome shape. It’s a testament to the resort’s desire to let it all grow in. But we were chatting about how highly anticipated it is, and this says nothing about Black, but it’s almost as if our team has put it in the rear-view mirror and moved onto the other projects because it was so long ago for us. And you kind of forget that it’s coming up so quickly now. We’re completely excited and looking very much to the feedback that you mentioned. And so now we’re in that strange limbo period where myself, Jim Wagner and the rest of the guys who worked on the course and put so much time and effort into it, but we now turned the course over to the superintendent, and we just wait.”

Laurence Lambrecht
Looking up at the second green at Streamsong Black

2. Looking back at the various design features at Black, what stands out to you most, and what are you most excited about showing to those playing?

“One of the nice things that Rich and the folks at Streamsong gave us was the freedom for Jim Wagner and our team and I to be creative. So we have a massive punchbowl on the ninth hole that might be one of the most fun golf holes we’ve ever built. I always love that sense of anticipation, walking up the hill to see where your ball ended up. And the 13th hole has two greens—there was a lot of discussion as to whether we could build a hole with two greens, ala Nos. 8 and 9 at Pine Valley. And we talked about it, but we only wanted to do it if we could make the tee shot meaningful, depending on which green you’re playing to, so having the strategy funnel all the way back to the tee rather than just the green. So we’re excited about the feedback we’ll get back at No. 13 whether one green or another is preferred or one angle over the other is better. So that’s something we’ve never done before. And I think the scale of the place, as big as the property is and as much flexibility as they allowed us to have there, that will yield to angles being particularly relevant on certain holes. There’s a lot of really interesting stuff out there. All the guys working on it, we were coming off Rio, and most of our team was down there, so there was just a lot of creative energy that inspired us by that site, and allowed us to create something special at the Black and have people come play it.”

Laurence Lambrecht
Looking back from the green on the par-3 fifth hole.

4. Working with sand in Florida isn’t unique, but tying in everything with a Sand Belt look certainly is. How do you feel your team’s work at Black will stack up among others in the state?

“First, the Streamsong property in general, if you parachuted into the land, you’d never think you were in Florida. I think the work that Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw did on Red, and Tom Doak did on Blue, certainly captured the natural advantages of the sand and the vegetation. So with those guys blazing the trail, we had a good head-start on how that unique character and look and feel for that specific part of Florida could be optimized. Our goal, because we share much stylistically and strategically and philosophically, with Bill and Ben and Tom. So we just needed to ask ourselves: ‘Our site is different because of X and Y. And it was principally the scale and the much more, sort of rolling piece of land rather than the dramatic pieces of land that they worked on with Red and Blue. So it was taking what they had created on that canvas and trying to modify it slightly to provide differentiation with the bunker looks in particular. Really, it’s most about variety, because you don’t want someone thinking that they’ve seen that hole somewhere on property or previously in their round at Black. So we were the beneficiaries of two great golf courses so we could go in and create something unique. There was an appreciation and a respect for what those guys did. It was figuring out a great routing, and add some unique design varieties, we were just hopeful that our interpretation and presentation of some holes stood out from the Red and Blue.”

A unique panoramic view from atop the Blue course, looking down at the new Black course, set to open in September

5. I’m amazed at all your work around the world at once. You’re talking to me right now from a bulldozer at The Creek Club, a Raynor and McDonald design your team is working on. How do you balance all your work at once?

“At the core, it’s about trusting the guys we have working with us, and putting them in a position where their creativity can shine. Our model, and I think it’s true for Bill and Ben, and Tom, is just finding really good, talented people and allow them to explore their creativity. Jim and I will act as editors and walk and talk with them, but the key has been to not only have great guys on site but empower them to make decisions and allow them to do good work as opposed to being stifled by sticking to plans or too much of heavy hand from an editing standpoint. The other thing is limiting the number of projects under construction to two or three. So while you’ll hear our names as consulting at clubs like Winged Foot, or consulting at Aronimink; we are, but right now, neither of those projects are under construction. So if we can limit the construction, then handling the plan work and the design work becomes an exercise in making sure our associates have time to crank out plans. That’s what it comes down to. Like I told you, I’ve been on a bulldozer at The Creek for the past three days here, and I love that part of the job. And if you ever lose that aspect, where Jim or I don’t have the time to get on the machinery, then we’ve lost the code [to success], as they say.”

Laurence Lambrecht
The view at the par-5 finishing hole at Streamsong Black

Here are some more photos:

Laurence Lambrecht
More examples of the massive, Sand Belt-inspired bunkers at the 12th hole at Streamsong Black

Laurence Lambrecht
The par-3 17th hole isn’t short on awesome views

Laurence Lambrecht
The massive green at the par-5 fourth hole

Laurence Lambrecht
A wide shot at dusk of the par-3 seventh green at Streamsong Black

The post Photos and details of what we should expect from the highly anticipated opening of Streamsong Black appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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Related: 2016 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Preview

The four global golfing superstars went head-to-head in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship ‘Rider Cup’, at the ocean-front Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, combining Texas scramble golf and revolutionary GolfBoards in a race to complete the hole first.

The USA team showcased their speed credentials to finish just seconds ahead of their European counterparts in what could be one of the quickest holes to be completed in years. Is this an omen for the Ryder Cup, which will be held at Hazeltine in September? After losing eight of the last 10 matches between the sides, the Americans certainly hope so!

The post Europe vs USA in Rider Cup! appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.