Britain's '100 per cent best amateur' moves on to radar for prestigious golf event

Luke Poulter, the son of Ryder Cup player Ian, has been hailed as Great Britain & Ireland’s “100 per cent best amateur” at this moment in time, making him a strong contender for a Walker Cup debut in California later this year.

The praise heaped on Poulter, who has made an impressive recovery after fracturing his back this time last year and was sidelined for around seven months, came from Dean Robertson, the man who will lead the visitors into battle in that biennial clash at Cypress Point in September.

In an exclusive interview with Scotland on Sunday, the GB&I captain mentioned Poulter’s name without any prompting about the 20-year-old and also revealed that Calum Scott, last year’s Silver Medal winner in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon, had ruled himself out of contention for a second successive appearance against the Americans due to the fact the Nairn man is turning professional at the end of his college career.

Luke Poulter pictured caddying for his dad Ian in practice round prior to The 150th Open at St Andrews | Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Blairgowrie’s Connor Graham, who created history in the 2023 match at St Andrews when he became the youngest-ever player on either side to play in the event, is pushing hard to be involved again after an eye-catching freshman season on the US college circuit.

It also sounds as though Cameron Adam, the 2023 Scottish Amateur champion from Royal Burgess, is in with a good chance of securing one of just ten spots up for grabs after the left-hander impressed during a preparatory visit to Cypress Points towards the end of last year.

There’s no denying, though, that it was the mention of young Poulter, who, in his sophomore year at the University of Florida, landed his maiden US college win in the Schenkel Invitational in Georgia and recently came through the first qualifying stage for next month’s US Open, that seemed a particularly significant soundbite.

“The best GB&I player 100 per cent at the moment is Luke Poulter and don’t be surprised if he’s got a very strong chance of representing GB&I this year,” said the former Scottish Amateur and Scottish Professional champion, as well, of course, as a DP World Tour winner in the Italian Open.

Robertson, who is being assisted by his long-time friend Raymond Russell - the pair fought out an epic battle in the Scottish Amateur at Royal Dornoch 32 years ago - and Welshwoman Kath O’Connor, a well-known figure in the amateur game, will oversee a squad get-together at Dumbarnie Links just before the St Andrews Links Trophy early next month.

He’ll then get to try out some pairings in the St Andrews Trophy match against Continental Europe in Madrid towards the end of July, admitting that being held in the same year as the Walker Cup on this occasion could be “huge” when it then comes round to the Walker Cup.

It had been suggested by someone who keeps a close eye on the amateur game that all ten spots on this occasion could be filled by English players, but that is unlikely to be the case and, though certainly not about to show any bias, Robertson happily talked about some of his compatriots.

Dean Robertson, the University of Stirling’s head of golf, with past programme member Louise Duncan and current scholar Ross Laird in the new state-of-the-art facilitiy | Contributed

“Calum is turning pro and let me know that he would be unavailable,” he said of Scott, the current top-ranked Scottish amateur, who is set to bring down the curtain on his college career with an appearance for Texas Tech along with Graham in the upcoming NCAA Championship in California.

“Connor has a chance again as he’s really maturing and has been sending me texts and phoning me up,” he added of Graham while, referring to Adam, admitted: ”Cameron impressed when we were at Cypress Point, which is short by modern standards and he showed a great understanding of how to play it.”

Only two GB&I teams - the first at Peachtree in 1989, when Jim Milligan holed the winning putt, and the other under the captaincy of Peter McEvoy, who passed away last month, at Ocean Forest in 2001 - have won on US soil. “On paper, we don’t have a chance - but let’s wait and see,” said Robertson, who, as the University of Stirling scholars he’s worked with for the last 15 years would happily testify, will certainly leave no stone unturned.

The current members of that programme and the others who will follow in their footsteps will not only be able to benefit from the Head of Golf’s vast knowledge but also have the use of a new indoor Golf Performance Studio, which was opened earlier this week.

“We are really fortunate as it has been a massive investment,” said Robertson, who mentored the likes of Lorna McClymont, Louise Duncan and Graeme Robertson, all now pursuing professional careers, in their time on the campus. “The money for all the technology came from the MacLeod Foundation and then the capital investment was made by the university itself, so that is going to an extension of my office.

An external shot of the University of Stirling's new state-of-the-art Performance Golf Studio, located on the Stirling campus | Contributed

“When I arrived in 2010, it was Bobby Rushford, Graeme Robertson, Zander Culverwell, Jack McDonald, those sort of players. The campus is about 350 acres but it had its own nine-hole golf course and an area where they would hit some balls. But it was nothing more than that and there weren’t any greenkeepers.

“Straight away, my aim was to start to work with the grounds crew to create things in an environment that we could then tap into structure our training programme around. We are really fortunate that it is an amazing campus. We call it a golf classroom where my office is and, for the last 15 years, we’ve had an all-weather facility as I like to call it where we just had to wrap up and get out there in all sorts of weather and get on with it.

“Now, to have an indoor studio along with the latest technology, which is something we’ve never really had, is going to be amazing for when the weather is poor. Right now, when the weather is great, we are outside and it was ironic that we opened the new facility on Wednesday when it was ‘Costa del Ecosse’. It will allow us to structure irrespective of what the weather conditions are and it will help the players to develop their skills, which the programme is all about.

“Times are difficult. There’s been a big tightening of belts, which means you are having to cut the cloth due to the higher education sector literally being on its knees at the moment. Budgets are tightening and we are going to just have to make the most of what we’ve got.”

You won’t hear the man they call “Deano” complaining as he’s just not that type, never has been and never will. GB&I’s latest bid to win a Walker Cup is in good hands.