| Dates | August 28–29, 1922 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | National Golf Links of America | ||||
| Location | Southampton, New York | ||||
| Captains |
| ||||
| |||||
| United States wins the Walker Cup | |||||
The 1922 Walker Cup, the first Walker Cup Match, was a team golf match played on August 28 and 29, 1922 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York. The United States won 8 to 4. [1] There had been heavy rain for several days before the event and course was very wet.
In February 1922 the USGA sent an invitation to the R&A to send a team representing the British Isles to America to play a match against a team representing the USGA. It was suggested that 10 players-a-side would be a suitable number. The date suggested was just prior to the United States Amateur Championship in early September. The letter also invited the R&A to send a team of four to the "Walker Cup" to take place at the National Golf Links of America after the Amateur Championship. [2] The Invitation to play the International Match was accepted. [3] The R&A appealed to clubs to subscribe to a fund to finance the expenses, estimated at £2,000 to £3,000. [4] Expenses to and from the United States were paid together with costs in the United States up until the day of the event, but not thereafter, should the players choose to play in the Amateur Championship. [5] In April there was still a report of two amateur team events; an 8 or 10 men team match at Brookline and a 4 men team event for the Walker Cup at the National. [6] The "Walker Cup" mentioned was presumably intended to an multinational team event, similar to that planned for September 1921 but, as in 1921, it seems that no countries accepted the invitation. The 1922 match between America and British Isles became the first Walker Cup. [7]
There were eight players in each team. Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were played on Monday August 28 and eight singles matches on Tuesday August 29. Each of the 12 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. Matches level after 36 holes were played to a finish.
The total expense of the trip by the British team was £1,588. £787 was subscribed to the fund financing the tour leaving a deficit of £801. Without the hospitality of the Americans the expenses would have been considerably higher. [8]
Playing captain: William C. Fownes Jr.
Playing captain: 
Robert Harris
Colin Aylmer John Caven Chubby Hooman Willis Mackenzie Cyril Tolley William Breck Torrance Roger Wethered Bernard Darwin (reserve)The Amateur Champion Ernest Holderness was unavailable for work reasons. Angus Hambro was to have been captain and reserve but private affairs prevented him from travelling. [9] [10]
The British team left Liverpool on August 3 on the Carmania [10] and returned to Southampton on September 19 on the Aquitania. [11]
Darwin, the golf correspondent of The Times, travelled with the team and became the official reserve. [10] He was added to the team when Harris could not play, having been bitten "by a giant sandfly". [12] He became "captain in the field" and played the American captain, Fownes, in the final singles match. [13] Fownes had intended to stand down and reserve Jimmy Johnston was due to play Darwin but Harris persuaded Fownes to play. [14]
 | Results |  |
|---|---|---|
| Tolley/Darwin |  8 & 7 | Guilford/Ouimet |
| Wethered/Aylmer |  5 & 4 | Evans/Gardner |
| Torrance/Hooman | 3 & 2 | Jones/Sweetser |
| Caven/Mackenzie | 2 & 1 | Marston/Fownes |
| 1 | Session | 3 |
| 1 | Overall | 3 |
| | Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Cyril Tolley | 2 & 1 | Jesse Guilford |
| Roger Wethered | 3 & 2 | Bobby Jones |
| John Caven | 5 & 4 | Chick Evans |
| Colin Aylmer | 8 & 7 | Francis Ouimet |
| William Breck Torrance | 7 & 5 | Robert Gardner |
| Chubby Hooman | 37 holes | Jess Sweetser |
| Willis Mackenzie | 6 & 5 | Max Marston |
| Bernard Darwin | 3 & 1 | William C. Fownes Jr. |
| 3 | Session | 5 |
| 4 | Overall | 8 |
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules of golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system for golfers, conducts 14 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open, and tests golf equipment for conformity with regulations. The USGA and the USGA Museum are located in Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP a grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Francis DeSales Ouimet was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match. It is organised by The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA). In 1921 the Royal Liverpool Golf Club hosted an unofficial contest which was followed by official annual contests from 1922 through 1924. From 1925 they became biennial, held on even-number years. After World War II they switched to odd-numbered years. From 2026 it will be held in even-numbered years following the switch of the Eisenhower Trophy to odd-numbered years to avoid that event clashing with the Olympic Games. They are held alternately in the U.S., and Ireland or Britain.
The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland". The same two teams originally contested the Ryder Cup, but unlike that competition, the Curtis Cup has not widened the Great Britain and Ireland team to include all Europeans. Many women who have gone on to become stars of women's professional golf have played in the Curtis Cup.
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August over a 7-day period.
Joseph Benedict Carr was an Irish amateur golfer.
Robert Henry "Skee" Riegel was an American professional golfer.
Jesse William Sweetser was an amateur golfer, best known as the first American-born player to win the British Amateur.
The Hon. Michael Scott OBE was an English amateur golfer, most famous for being the oldest winner of The Amateur Championship.
Oscar Frederick "Doc" Willing was an American amateur golfer. He played in three Walker Cup matches.
William P. Turnesa was an American amateur golfer, best known for winning two U.S. Amateur titles and the British Amateur. He was one of seven famous golfing brothers; Phil (1896-1987), Frank (1898-1949), Joe (1901-1991), Mike (1907-2000), Doug (1909-1972), Jim (1912-1971), and Willie (1914-2001). Willie was the only brother not to turn professional. The family was referred to as a "golf dynasty" in a 2000 New York Times article.
William Joseph Patton was an American amateur golfer best known for almost winning the 1954 Masters Tournament.
Jesse Poore Guilford was an American amateur golfer. He is most notable for winning the U.S. Amateur in 1921.
The 1913 U.S. Open was the 19th U.S. Open, held September 18–20 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston. Amateur Francis Ouimet, age 20, won his only U.S. Open title in an 18-hole playoff, five strokes ahead of Britons Harry Vardon and Ted Ray.
Charles Victor Lisle Hooman, often known as Chubby Holman, was an English amateur sportsman who played cricket for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club between 1907 and 1910. He won Blues for golf, rackets and cricket and later represented the Great Britain and Ireland golf team in the Walker Cup in 1922 and 1923. He served in the Royal Naval Reserve during World War I and the RAF Volunteer Reserve during World War II.
Fred Scobie Ridley is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator who won the U.S. Amateur in 1975, was elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2004, and then became chairman of Augusta National Golf Club in 2017.
The 44th Walker Cup Match was played on September 7 and 8, 2013 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York. The United States won 17 to 9.
William Clark Fownes Jr. was an American amateur golfer. His father, Henry Fownes, founded and designed Oakmont Country Club.
The 48th Walker Cup Match was held May 8–9, 2021, in the United States at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida. It was the first time the Walker Cup was played in Florida. The United States won by 14 points to 12.
