1938 Walker Cup

Last updated
10th Walker Cup Match
Dates3–4 June 1938
Venue Old Course at St Andrews
Location St Andrews, Scotland
Captains
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
74 United States
Great Britain & Ireland wins the Walker Cup
  1936
1947  

The 1938 Walker Cup, the 10th Walker Cup Match, was played on 3 and 4 June 1938, on the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. Great Britain and Ireland won by 7 matches to 4 with one match halved. It was their first victory in the Walker Cup.

Contents

Great Britain & Ireland took a one point lead after the first day foursomes. [1] On the second day they won 5 of the 8 singles matches. They took a winning 6–4 lead when Alex Kyle beat Fred Haas, later increased to 7–4 when Cecil Ewing beat Ray Billows on the final green. [2] [3]

Format

Four 36-hole matches of foursomes were played on Friday and eight singles matches on Saturday. Each of the 12 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 36th hole extra holes were not played. The team with most points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.

Teams

The United States selected a team of 8 and a non-playing captain in January. [4] Great Britain and Ireland selected their captain, John Beck, in February, initially as a non-player. [5] 8 members of the British team were selected in early May, at which time Beck was given the option of playing himself if he chose. [6] Cecil Ewing was selected as the final member of the team in late May, after reaching the final of the Amateur Championship. [7] In the end, Beck did not select himself for any matches. Ewing did not play in the foursomes but replaced Harry Bentley in the singles.

Great Britain & Ireland

United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Playing captain: England John Beck

United States

United States
Captain: Francis Ouimet

Friday's foursomes

United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland Results United States
Bentley/BruenhalvedFischer/Kocsis
Peters/Thomson United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 4 & 2Goodman/Ward
Kyle/Stowe United States 3 & 2Yates/Billows
Pennink/Crawley United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 3 & 1Smith/Haas
2Foursomes1
2Overall1

Saturday's singles

United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland Results United States
Jimmy Bruen United States 2 & 1Charlie Yates
Hector Thomson United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 6 & 4Johnny Goodman
Leonard Crawley United States 3 & 2Johnny Fischer
Charlie Stowe United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 2 & 1Chuck Kocsis
Frank Pennink United States 12 & 11Bud Ward
Cecil Ewing United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 1 upRay Billows
Gordon Peters United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 9 & 8Reynolds Smith
Alex Kyle United Kingdom Republic of Ireland 5 & 4Fred Haas
5Singles3
7Overall4

References

  1. "Thrilling Walker Cup Struggle". Glasgow Herald . 4 June 1938. p. 11.
  2. "Historic Day of Golf". Glasgow Herald . 6 June 1938. p. 11.
  3. "1938 – St. Andrews". walkercup.co.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  4. "U.S. Walker Cup Defenders". Glasgow Herald . 10 January 1938. p. 11.
  5. "Walker Cup Trials". Glasgow Herald . 5 February 1938. p. 19.
  6. "Our Walker Cup Hopes". Glasgow Herald . 9 May 1938. p. 13.
  7. "Thrilling Climax to Memorable Day". Glasgow Herald . 28 May 1938. p. 11.