2026 Walker Cup: 20 fun facts about the 20 U.S. and GB&I golfers set to play at Lahinch

Thanks to a quirk of scheduling, nine of the 20 competitors in this week’s Walker Cup at Lahinch are back from playing a year ago at Cypress Point; the USGA and R&A purposedly moved up the 51st edition 12 months to return the biennial matches to even-numbered years while the Ryder Cup is played in odd years.

With several “veterans” on each squad, the names you’ll see over the weekend in Ireland are likely to sound more familiar to golf fans who’ve paid attention to the premier amateur event. Seven of the top-10 ranked amateurs in the world are competing for the United States while two are representing Great Britain & Ireland this week.

For those who are catching up on the amateur game with Lahinch drawing your attention as the host course, we’ll get you prepped for the big event here by posting 20 facts on the 20 players.

United States

Captain: Nathan Smith

Kihei Akina

Alpine, Utah
Age: 20
WAGR: 11
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Akina earned national freshman of the year honors in 2025-25, after claiming two wins and finishing T-8 at the NCAA Championship at BYU. Also made the cut in two PGA Tour events in 2026, including T-16 showing at the Puerto Rico Open.

Ryder Cowan

Edmond, Okla.
Age: 20
WAGR: 6
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Shared low-amateur honors at the U.S. Open in June then knocked off future Walker Cup teammate Miles Russell in the first round of the U.S. Amateur in August, eventually falling in the third round.

Ethan Fang

Plano, Texas
Age: 21
WAGR: 9
Walker Cup Record: 0-2 (foursomes), 1-0-1 (singles)
Fun Fact: Fang, the first American to win the British Amateur in 18 years when he claimed the title in 2025, played on Team USA in Walker Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship a year ago.

Josiah Gilbert

Millbrook, Ala.
Age: 20
WAGR: 7
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Gilbert was a bit of an unsung hero as Auburn won its second NCAA team title in three years this spring, finishing as the low Tiger at both the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championship. In match play at nationals, beat future Walker Cup teammates Jay Leng, Jr. (Stanford) in the quarterfinals and Ethan Fang (Oklahoma State) in the semifinals.

Stewart Hagestad

Newport Beach, Calif.
Age: 35
WAGR: 25
Walker Cup Record: 1-5 (foursomes), 7-1 (singles)
Fun Fact: This is Hagestad’s sixth Walker Cup appearance, helping the U.S. win all five previous times. If Team USA wins again, Hagestad will trail only Jay Sigel (11) in playing for the most victorious teams in Walker Cup history.

William Jennings

Greenville, S.C.
Age: 20
WAGR: 4
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: The rising junior at Alabama (who stands a rising 6-foot-6) had five top-five finishes for the Crimson Tide in 2025-26, including a runner-up at the NCAA Championship.

Jay Leng Jr.

San Diego
Age: 20
WAGR: 12
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Leng has had arguably the best summer of any amateur golfer, winning the Western Amateur and finishing runner-up at the U.S. Amateur in addition to a T-5 at the Southern Amateur.

Miles Russell

Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
Age: 17
WAGR: 5
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: The U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up is the youngest member of the American team and just the second high schooler ever to play for the American side.

Preston Stout

Richardson, Texas
Age: 21
WAGR: 1
Walker Cup Record: 0-2 (foursomes), 2-0 (singles)
Fun Fact: With Jackson Koivun turning pro, Stout, winner of the 2026 NCAA individual title and a 2025 Walker Cupper, took over as No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and earned the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked amateur at the end of the summer.

Tyler Watts

Huntsville, Ala.
Age: 18
WAGR: 2
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Watts, an incoming freshman at Tennessee, became the youngest champion in the history of the Northeast Amateur when he won by five strokes in June.

Great Britain & Ireland

Captain: Dean Robertson

Eliot Baker

England
Age: 23
WAGR: 13
Walker Cup Record: 1-3
Fun Fact: The returning player from GB&I’s 2025 squad is on a bit of a run, having made match play at the U.S. Amateur, finishing runner-up at the England Open and finishing and 15th (low am) in his first DP World Tour start (Nexo Championship in Scotland.

Ben Bolton

England
Age: 19
WAGR: 86
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Before making match play at the British Amateur this summer and finishing a T-13 at the European Amateur, Bolton notable reached the quarterfinals of the 2025 U.S. Junior at Trinity Forest.

Sam Easterbrook

England
Age: 21
WAGR: 76
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: A rising senior at Purdue, Easterbrook is the first Boilermaker to play in the Walker Cup in 43 years.

Connor Graham

Scotland
Age: 19
WAGR: 26
Walker Cup Record: 3-3-1
Fun Fact: In 2023, Graham became youngest player in Walker Cup history. This is the rising junior at Texas Tech’s third appearance in the matches, after twice playing for the victorious International team in college golf’s Palmer Cup.

Stuart Grehan

Ireland
Age: 33
WAGR: 28
Walker Cup Record: 1-2-1
Fun Fact: The former mini-tour pro’s remarkable return to amateur golf included playing in the 2025 Walker Cup after missing out on the team in 2017 with a broken arm. It continued this summer when the lone Irishman on this year’s GB&I squad won the British Amateur, the first time a mid-amateur claimed the title since 2004. Grehan says he’s played Lahinch between 30 and 40 times.

Josh Hill

England
Age: 22
WAGR: 93
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: Hill, who closed out his college career at Tennessee in the spring, was the youngest player to win a tournament offering Official World Golf Ranking points with a victory at the 2019 Al Ain Open on the MENA Tour at 15.

Luke Poulter

England
Age: 22
WAGR: 8
Walker Cup Record: 2-2
Fun Fact: The son of legendary Ryder Cupper Ian, Poulter went 2-2 at Cypress Point last September for the GB&I team. He’s two-time winner in three seasons at Florida who shot par or better in eight of 10 starts in 2025-26.

Niall Sheils Donegan

Scotland
Age: 21
WAGR: 18
Walker Cup Record: 2-1
Fun Fact: After a breakout summer in 2025 that included a semifinal appearance at the U.S. Amateur and a 2-1 showing at the Walker Cup, the Scot transferred from Northwestern to North Carolina and led the team with a 69.91 average, fourth best in school history.

Tyler Weaver

England
Age: 21
WAGR: 3
Walker Cup Record: 1-3
Fun Fact: The highest ranked player on the GB&I squad hasn’t played since the ACC Championship in April after a breakout junior season at Florida State due to back issues, hoping the rest will give him the best chance at success at Lahinch.

Jack Whaley

England
Age: 22
WAGR: 45
Walker Cup Record: Debut
Fun Fact: The Florida State undergrad was a longshot to make the GB&I squad until his magical week at Merion Golf Club last month, where he marched to victory at the U.S. Amateur, becoming just the third Englishman to win the Havemeyer Trophy.