Connor Graham 'excited' to make history as youngest-ever Walker Cup player

Stuart Graham celebrated his birthday on Wednesday but won’t mind in the slightest that it had been overshadowed by two of his sons, having introduced them to golf and now seeing them deliver a week to cherish for a family consumed by the game.

Connor Graham in action during a practice round on the Old Course ahead of this weekend's Walker Cup at St Andrews. Picture: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

On Tuesday, 19-year-old Gregor earned a place in the record books as he became the first amateur to win on the Tartan Pro Tour, set up by Paul Lawrie to provide playing opportunities during the Covid pandemic and now a feeder circuit for the Challenge Tour, as he made home advantage count at Blairgowrie.

As that performance illustrated, he’s a talented young lad and so, too, is his younger sibling, Connor, who is also creating golfing history this week. At 16 years and ten months, he will become the youngest player from either team to play in the Walker Cup when he joins Calum Scott in flying the Saltire in this week’s 49th edition at St Andrews.

“It’s a very cool experience to be playing in a Walker Cup at the home of golf at such a young age,” Graham, who is a month younger than Oliver Fisher was when the Englishman represented Great Britain & Ireland in the 2005 contest in Chicago, told The Scotsman. “It’s a great achievement to make any Walker Cup team, but to do it at 16 years old is pretty special.”

Graham, who represents the Paul Lawrie Foundation as one of its ambassadors, secured one of ten coveted spots on a team being captained by Stuart Wilson on the back of some eye-catching efforts. He won last year’s R&A Junior Open at Monifieth, where he beat the highly-rated Thai player, TK Chantananuwat, by five shots, before adding the Scottish Men’s Open earlier this year following a closing 63 at Meldrum House.

“I know that I needed to play good golf to have a chance of making the team and I achieved that in a few events,” added Graham, who is no stranger to this week’s venue and not just because the St Andrews Links Trophy has provided valuable experience of playing the Old Course for the majority of players in the home team. “I was probably 12 or 13 when I first played on the Old Course, but I’ve been playing at St Andrews since I was seven or eight,” he said, living just over 30 miles from the Auld Grey Toun.

Due to that, Graham is bracing himself for an almighty cheer when his name is announced at Friday’s opening ceremony before the biennial battle takes place on Saturday and Sunday. “I’m definitely looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s always good fun playing at big events with big crowds. But we need to try and not get too excited and focus on our matches.”

While Gregor had hoped he’d make the team as well, he’s now on a high as well as he prepares to cheer his sibling on. “It’s definitely a great way to start the week off,” he said of his success. “I can now put the clubs away for a few days and go to St Andrews and support Connor. It will be amazing to watch that and I’m sure he’ll do amazing.

“I’m so proud of him. He’s had an amazing last couple of years and, especially the last couple of weeks, he’s been playing some incredible stuff.”