Walker Cup
USGA finalizes U.S. Walker Cup team headed for St. Andrews
Stewart Hagestad reacts to a putt during the 2021 Walker Cup Match.
Sam Greenwood/R&A
Nick Dunlap, the newly minted U.S. Amateur champion, already had secured his spot on the U.S. team that will take on Great Britain & Ireland in the 49th Walker Cup Match. On Sunday, the bulk of the team was selected for the honor to compete on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Sept 2-3.
At the conclusion of the U.S. Am, the USGA announced at Cherry Hills Country Club that Nick Gabrelcik, Austin Greaser, Stewart Hagestad, Ben James, Dylan Menante and Preston Summerhays would join the players already selected—Dunlap, David Ford, Gordon Sargent and Caleb Surratt. (Michael Thorbjornsen had earned his place on the team but had to withdraw because of a back injury).
“I am beyond excited to have our full team set as we begin to prepare for the Old Course,” said U.S. captain Mike McCoy.
GB&I is set to announce its team on Monday.
A brief look at each of the six players picked on Sunday:
• Hagestad, 32, of Newport Beach, Calif., is the only non-college player on the team. He has been a member of three winning U.S. Walker Cup teams (2017, 2019, 2021) and reached the quarterfinals of both the 2022 and 2020 U.S. Amateurs. He has played in 26 USGA championships, including two victories in the Mid-Amateur.
• Summerhays, 21, of Scottsdale, Ariz., reached match play in this week’s U.S. Amateur, falling in the Round of 64. The Arizona State product has played in two U.S. Opens and won the 2019 U.S. Junior. He comes from a famed golf family based in Utah, with his father, Boyd, works as an instructor for Tony Finau among others.
• Greaser, 21, of Vandalia, Ohio, was runner-up to James Piot in the 2021 U.S. Amateur, played in the 2022 Masters. The fifth-year senior at North Carolina also won the 2022 Western Amateur.
• Gabrelcik, 21, of Trinity, Fla., is a rising senior at the Universeity of North Florida who made the semifinals of the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont. He won the Southern Amateur this summer.
• James, 19, of Milford, Conn., advanced to the quarterfinals of this week’s U.S. Amateur. The rising Virginia sophomore won the 2023 Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award and was a First-Team Ping All-American.
• Menante, 22, of Carlsbad, Calif., is the first North Carolina player to finish in the top 10 in both an NCAA regional (T-6) and the NCAA Championship (T-4) in the same season. The fifth-year senior transferred last year from Pepperdine, where he was twice named West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He reached the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Amateur.