Astonishing Walker Cup win with Scottish golfer at heart of it deserves every award going
Dramatic ‘Legend of Lahinch’ finish was probably even more remarkable than ‘Miracle of Medinah’
Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Shot of the Year, Event of the Year. In fact, just give them anything else you can think of because, yes, Great Britain & Ireland’s win in the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch on Sunday was that good.
It was likened by Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley, part of the Sky Sports Golf commentary team and tweeting away all weekend about one of golf’s great events, to the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah - and he certainly wasn’t exaggerating.
In some respects, what has been quickly tagged as the ‘Legend of Lahinch’ was even more remarkable, really, than the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ pulled off by Jose Maria Olazabal and his European players on the outskirts of Chicago.
It looked a forlorn task, after all, for Dean Robertson’s GB&I side, which included Scottish duo Niall Shiels Donegan and Connor Graham, after losing the Sunday morning foursomes 4-0 to fall three points behind heading into the concluding ten singles matches.
Twelve months earlier at Cypress Point in California, where Robertson, a former Scottish Amateur champion, was also at the helm, GB&I had lost the closing session 8.5-1.5 to go 17-9, marking a fifth straight success in the contest for the USA.
With seven of the top ten in World Amateur Golf Ranking in the American team and all ten in the top 25, it looked as though that winning streak was about to be extended, but don’t you just love what team golf can throw up a lot of the time and did so on this occasion?
Hats off to home hero Stuart Grehan, who came from behind for the second day in a row to topple world No 1 Preston Stout, Luke Poulter, Jack Whaley and Tyler Weaver for delivering the victories at the top of the order for providing badly-needed “energy” for the GB&I team.
Without one of those crucial points, it would have been game over long before one of the most dramatic finishes ever witnessed in either Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup history materialised, and it’s still difficult to believe it actually happened.
California-based Shiels Donegan played his part by delivering a valuable half-point after knocking in a nerve-testing putt on the 18th green before Blairgowrie’s Graham did likewise to finish birdie-birdie, which, coupled with a last-green win for Elliot Baker, last year’s Scottish Men’s Open winner, meant it was all down to the last match out on the course.
Josh Hill, the world No 93, was the lowest-ranked of the 20 players involved in the encounter, and had been somewhat of a surprise pick by Robertson. But, boy, did he rise to the occasion for his captain and team-mates by producing a truly sensational match-winning shot from a front greenside bunker.
Scottish duo have inspired new generation
GB&I had pulled off the biggest fightback in the event’s history and all ten of them will go down as legends after delivering a day that will not just be talked about in the local hostelries in Lahinch, but on courses around the world for a good while to come.
Graham created history as the match’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut in the 2023 edition at St Andrews and has now become a Walker Cup winner as well at the third attempt, with Shiels Donegan enjoying that thrill in his second outing.
Both currently at university in the US, Graham and Shiels Donegan are Scotland’s two best amateurs at the current time by some considerable distance, with bright futures hopefully lying ahead for the talented duo in the professional ranks.
For the time being, though, they should be applauded for providing inspiration for the new crop of young Scottish amateurs because, if Sunday didn’t whet appetites for the likes of Finlay Galloway, Aidan Lawson, Fraser Walters and Jamie McDonald to name but a few, then something is badly amiss. Scotland should be represented on stages like the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup every single time.
As for Robertson, we’ve all known for a long, long time that the man who cut his golfing teeth at Cochrane Castle, where he grew up idolising Barclay Howard, lives and breathes golf and, dramatic as though it may sound, this win was one of the most-deserved successes in the sport’s history.
Ask the likes of Graeme Robertson, Louise Duncan, Lorna McClymont, Chris Paisley, Cormac Sharvin and lots of others what Robertson did for them in his role as head of golf when they were at the University of Stirling and you’d get a sense of what the 1999 Italian Open champion is all about.
From a media perspective, it’s been an absolute joy and pleasure to have had numerous chats with ‘Deano’ over the years because, on every single occasion, it left you feeling positive about not only what he was trying to achieve but also about the game in general.
It stung like hell when his well-planned preparation for Cypress Point ended in a heavy defeat, but, with his long-time friend Raymond Russell as his trusty assistant again and Kath O’Connor, a Welsh international and Callaway talent-spotter, involved as well once more, Robertson rightly got his second bite at the cherry.
He’s now created history as the first Scot to become a winning Walker Cup captain, succeeding where the likes of Charlie Green, Sandy Saddler, George Macgregor, Colin Dalgleish, Craig Watson and, most recently, Stuart Wilson all came up empty-handed.
No wonder some people are asking why Robertson has never been involved in an official capacity with Scottish Golf, though that one is probably for another day. For the time being, he should be allowed to savour and enjoy being part of that ‘Legend at Lahinch’ in a year when his dad, David, sadly passed away.
You made him proud and us, too, ‘Deano’.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.