Hoylake to host Walker Cup

HOYLAKE’S return from the golfing wilderness has been rubber-stamped after it was awarded the Walker Cup in 2019 to coincide with Royal Liverpool’s 150th anniversary.

The Merseyside course dropped off the Open Championship rota for 39 years before it was restored in 2006, when Tiger Woods claimed the most recent of his three Claret Jug 
successes.

The world’s oldest major is heading back there next year and now Hoylake is set for another occasion to cherish when it stages the 47th biennial contest between the leading amateurs of Great Britain & Ireland and the United States.

It will be the second time it has hosted the Walker Cup after a home team led by Scottish legend Charlie Green lost 13½-10½ to the Americans with Jay Sigel as captain in 1983.

“The Walker Cup is one of the most historic and prestigious events in golf,” said Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, the R&A’s executive director of championships. We are delighted to be taking the match back to Royal Liverpool in its 150th year.

“Hoylake will provide an outstanding challenge for both teams. It is one of the finest tests of links golf to be found and has hosted many successful championships over the years.”

After winning at Royal Aberdeen in 2011, GB&I defend the trophy at the National Golf Links of America in September, while the next match on this side of the Atlantic, in 2015, will be at Royal Lytham.