The
Walker Cup
At Winged Foot G.C. August 19-20 1949
Great Britain Overwhelmed
R. J. White Wins Both His Matches
No
competent judge of the game can really have expected the British Walker Cup team
to win the match against the United States at Winged Foot in August 1949. Yet
after the British team ' s fine showing at Royal Mid Surrey just before they
sailed against a strong side of professionals, the crushing defeat by ten
matches to two was a stunning blow.
No excuses should be offered for our failure ; but
the time has come for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf
Association to get together and discuss openly and on the friendliest possible
basis how future matches shall be less one-sided. The difficulty at the moment
does not lie so much in two separate interpretations of " amateur
status," but as to whether it is desirable that either side should play
whole-time golfers or, indeed, anyone who has ever been a whole-time golfer or
who has ever been a professional. This year's American side was composed almost
entirely of this category of player ; our side were weekend golfers to a man.
Such a state of affairs is bound to lead to a farcically one-sided match. And it
will continue to be so as long as these conditions obtain.
There was as usual considerable controversy over
the composition of the British side when it was finally chosen early in the
summer. On the other hand, the appointment of P. B. Lucas as captain met with
wide approval. I do not believe that either Lucas or his co-selectors could
possibly have worked harder in their endeavour to pick the best team available
for American conditions. They decided that youth must have its chance so several
old favourites had to be left out ; but most of the team picked themselves. S.
M. McCready, the new Amateur Champion, was an automatic choice ; and E. B.
Millward, though not the most elegant of golfers, played his way into the side
in the Amateur Championship at Portmarnock in May. It might have appeared to
some that A. Perowne's record in amateur golf did not justify his inclusion. If
this was so his subsequent performances in America most certainly did.
It was most unfortunate that on arrival in New
York the British team stepped off the Queen Elizabeth into one of the worst heat
waves on record. It lasted until three days before the match and during this
time they were so cooked and stewed that it required a feat of great mental
resolution to play even nine holes at the end of their first week at Winged
Foot. The Americans arrived in time for three days' practice, and with them came
a lovely cool breeze. It cheered British hearts, but it did not arrive in time
to sharpen up their game.
One glance at the American players was enough to
see that to a man they were very high-class performers and at least as good as
the best British professionals. With the exception of J. White of Birkdale it would be fair to say that these
Americans were superior in, every department of the game and their extraordinary
skill in the use of the sand iron or wedge, either from bunkers or grass, was a
revelation. It must have been a nightmare to play against.
Lucas, one of the fairest minded of men, had
little difficulty in selecting his side. He himself never found his form, being
overburdened with the duties of captaincy, and E. B. Millward, though he worked
tirelessly in pursuit of his best game, which we had seen at Portmarnock in May,
was unhappily never rewarded for his efforts. In the circumstances, the British
pairings for the foursomes were easily arrived at. As an exhibition of foursome
golf the four matches were rather disappointing. There was quite a strong breeze
which the Americans evidently did not like, but it was by no means a strong wind
that made the driving by either side comparatively poor.
There were, in a match of this character, far too
many second shots played from among the trees or out of heavy grass. In the top
match J. B. Carr and R. J. White always appeared to have their match in hand
against W. Turnesa and R. Billows. Immense responsibility fell upon Carr's
shoulders, since his partner was playing so magnificently that he alone could
lose the match by destructive shots. Carr is a brilliant rather than a sound
player, but in this match he played with measured steadiness and fine judgment.
The first four holes were in turn won and lost by either side, Turnesa playing a
telling shot from sand at each of the first two. There followed three halves in
par figures, but whereas the Americans were scrambling for theirs, Carr and
White were getting them in most convincing fashion. Perhaps the best shot of the
morning was played by Carr, with a prodigious slice round the trees from the tee
at the dog-leg 8th hole.
The British pair turned two up. Playing with great
confidence, they forged ahead and stood three up at lunch. If they had been six
up it would have been no injustice. In the afternoon Turnesa and Billows played
much better ; in the first nine holes they got one back against opponents who
were out in 37. But it was now that White showed his greatness and Carr his fine
match-playing qualities. Neither winked an eyelid at the brilliant recoveries
made by their opponents and they finally won by three up and two to play. In the
second match neither F. Stranahan nor C. Kocsis were at their best ; they took
76 strokes in their morning round against J. Bruen and S. M. McCready. The
British couple took 79, but they reached the half-way stage only one down. Now
if they could pull themselves together they still had a fine chance to win a
valuable point for their side. But, alas, either one or the other continued to
play an occasional loose shot and far too often it came from the tee. Though
they squared the match at the 32nd they took five to each of the next two holes,
and you can't afford to do that at comparatively simple par fours when opposed
by first-class American players. The match ended on the 35th green.
In the third match E. Bishop and S. Riegel won the
first three holes against R. C. Ewing and G. H. Micklem. Micklem made a great
effort to pull his side together, but somehow Ewing was rather listless and
evidently it was not his day. The Americans were four up at lunch-round in 72
against 79-and, when the British pair started badly again after the interval,
all was over. Though K. G. Thom and A. Perowne got a fine start in the last
match against those two magnificent golfers, J. Dawson and B. McCormick, they
failed to stay. One does not wish to be captious on such occasions but it did
appear that neither of them had quite the personality to take charge of his
side. In the end they were beaten far out in the country and a gloomy day was
over.
The Singles went very much as one might have
expected. R. J. White again distinguished himself by winning the only match,
defeating W. P. Turnesa, the reigning American Amateur Champion, by four up and
three to play. White has a remarkable record in this match. Having won both his
Foursome and his Single at St. Andrews in 1947, he repeated the feat at Winged
Foot last year. Throughout the two days' play he was at the very top of his form-always
an exhilarating spectacle-and his fine temperament and composure give great
confidence to his supporters. He outplayed Turnesa from the first hole until the
33rd where he got a gorgeous birdie three. He deserves every possible credit for
the way in which he disregarded his opponent's method of getting his figures,
nor did he for one moment allow Turnesa to disturb his concentration or upset
his purpose. Turnesa for his part is a very great match player, and I have seen
no finer putter or pitcher out of trouble since Waiter Hagen was in his prime.
He has not played his best in England since the Walker Cup Match of 1947, but,
whether he plays well or badly, he invariably gets the figures at all the holes
that really count in a match.
Stranahan beat MeCready by six up and five to
play. For a time it was quite a good game and although McCready did not drive
very well he often outplayed his man to the greens. But there, time after time,
his hopes were shattered by Stranahan's wonderful recovery shots from sand. In
the morning, McCready went round in 74 against Stranahan's 73, and on no fewer
than ten occasions in this round Stranahan got down in two strokes out of
bunkers. In the afternoon, with Stranahan at the top of his form, McCready could
not hold him. S. Reigel played the finest golf of the match against J. Bruen
whom he defeated bv 5 and 4. Reigel's game was cast-iron and he made practically
no mistakes. Bruen hit many fine shots, and his score for the day was level
fours when he had to surrender. J. Dawson was far too good for J. B. Carr who
really lost the match in the first nine holes, for which he took 42 strokes. R.
C. Ewing had a grand battle with C. Coe who won the American Amateur
Championship a month later. Behind most of the day, Ewing fought a brave uphill
battle and in some ways he was unlucky not to halve his match.
Once again G. H. Micklem had to play one of the
best players in the American side ; this time it was J. McHale. One or two loose
iron shots by Micklem, three putts on several occasions, and McHale, a
magnificent golfer, drew comfortably away. R. Billows beat K. G. Thom by 2 and
1. It was a fine match, but Thorn, who is usually such a splendid driver too
often missed the fairway from the tee. C. Kocsis, a grand golfer of great experience,
got an early and a very long lead against the youthful Perowne who at one time
was as many as eight holes down. Perowne deserves every possible credit for his
fighting finish and for taking the match to the 34th green. The British side did
themselves no sort of justice nor was it their fault that these splendid
American players overwhelmed them. 1 shall always believe that the heatwave to
which they were subjected during their first fortnight in America was largely
responsible for the magnitude of their eclipse.