'Be our 11th man' - Dean Robertson's message to Walker Cup fans at Lahinch
Scot raring and ready to go again in role as captain after sore finish to last year’s match in California
Dean Robertson is hoping Irish fans can help give Great Britain & Ireland an edge in this year’s Walker Cup match at Lahinch, urging them to make it feel as though the United States are up against an “11-man team” in County Clare in September.
The 51st edition of what is traditionally a biennial event is taking place on this occasion just 12 months after the last one, which saw the Americans run out comfortable winners in the end at Cypress Point in California after it had been tight over the first three sessions.
The change to odd-numbered years after being staged in even-numbered years since 1947 has been made to avoid a conflict going forward with the World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy.
It will be the first time the contest has been held in Ireland since 2004 at Royal County Down, where an American team that included Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel and Webb Simpson defeated a home side that was led by Rory McIlroy.
Prior to that, an edition at Portmarnock in 1991 featured Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley and Andrew Coltart in the GB&I ranks while the US side included Phil Mickelson and David Duval.
“We are going to be an 11-player team this year and the 11th player is going to be the support we’ll have at Lahinch,” Robertson, speaking as tickets for the 5-6 September contest went on sale, told The Scotsman. “That’s something I’m going to really embrace. The players need to engage with the support and get them onside in the manner we support the game of golf over here, nothing else.”
While a final scoreline of 17-9 last September was certainly sore for the visitors and meant the Americans have now won the last five encounters, Robertson is raring and ready to go again and feels the unique situation of two matches being held in a shorter period of time than normal is advantageous in more than one respect.
‘Upsides to quick rematch’
“There are a number of upsides to that,” insisted the former Scottish Amateur champion and now doing a splendid job as the University of Stirling’s high performance golf coach. “No 1 being that, having spent the last couple of years developing relationships with the players who are in the frame and understanding them and their games and staying in touch with them, it brings a little bit of experience to what will transpire this year.
“Three of them have turned professional - Cameron Adam, Dominic Clemons and Charlie Foster. Outwith that, there are seven players still eligible for selection and I will firmly predict that a good handful of those players will again earn their position in this year’s Walker Cup team due to the fact they are such good players.
“The other thing is that we are coming back to home soil and Lahinch (where Jon Rahm won the Irish Open in 2019) is magnificent. What a match-play golf course. It’s a links course and it requires different skills, including a ground game. Within our wheelhouse, we will be able to prepare them really well for that.”
In addition to Adam, Connor Graham and Niall Shiels Donegan were also in the team that won the opening foursomes session 3-1 at Cypress Point then shared the second-day session in that format. It was in the singles, though, that the Americans showed their class, especially in the concluding session, which they won 8.5-1.5.
“Look, the Americans are deep when it comes to the Walker Cup, which is over two days and, uniquely, it is two singles sessions (compared to just one, of course, in the Ryder Cup),” said Robertson. “So 18 of the 26 points up for grabs are in singles matches. The unity and togetherness we had as a team was outstanding. We really built a foundation on foursomes play from the St Andrews Trophy and took that on to Cypress Point, where we were outstanding in the foursomes.
“We won the foursomes 5-3 and, arguably, that could have been 6-2 as there was a big momentum shift in the foursomes on the second morning with Connor and Tyler [Weaver]. That was a massive moment in the moment, as there were on the first day.
“But a big focus for me this year is preparing our players for singles play. We need to have a harder edge. We need to be robust. And we need to have fast starts and carry momentum because the US team on that final afternoon were, plain and simple, outstanding.”
As results on both sides of the Atlantic begin to start taking more significance with the Walker Cup in mind, Weaver won the Valspar Collegiate earlier this week, securing a PGA Tour start in the process in next week’s Valspar Championship. Helped by carding eight straight birdies, California-based Shiels Donegan closed with a 63 at The Floridian to finish joint-tenth in that event while Blairgowrie’s Graham helped Texas Tech win the team title.
‘We’ll work hard on a number of things’
Helped again by close friend and 1993 Walker Cup team-mate Raymond Russell and also Kath O’Connor, a Welsh international and Callaway talent-spotter, Robertson will be giving it his all once again in his bid to become the first GB&I captain to be a triumphant one since Nigel Edwards at Royal Lytham in 2015.
“We’ll work hard on the foursomes, we’ll work hard on the singles and we’ll work hard to give those fans something to really get behind,” he declared, all things Luke Donald, of course, will also be aiming to tick off when he bids to become a three-time Ryder Cup-winning captain at Adare Manor next year.
“He’s somebody I’ll be aiming to speak to in the coming months,” admitted Robertson, with Donald, in addition to an incredible record of winning all his matches as a Ryder Cup player and captain to date, having also been part of a triumphant GB&I team in the Walker Cup at Nairn in 1999.
* Tickets for the 51st Walker Cup must be pre-purchased. An early bird offer is available on the first 500 weekend tickets sold. Prices start at €40 for a single-day ticket or €70 covering both Saturday and Sunday. Free entry will be on offer for children under 16 accompanied by a paying adult. Discounted youth tickets are also available for 16-24-year-olds.
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