Northwestern University Athletics
Luke Donald Heads Great Britain/Ireland Walker Cup Squad
7/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 11, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Peter McEvoy, the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup captain, says he has a side capable of beating the United States August 11-12 at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.
Luke Donald and Gary Wolstenholme will lead the GB&I Walker Cup team. They are the only two players on the 10-man team to have played at Nairn, Scotland, two years ago when GB&I won 15-9.
Donald, who graduated from Northwestern last month, went undefeated at Nairn two years ago, winning four points in four matches. He partnered with former Arizona State star Paul Casey in foursomes, and Casey has since turned professional.
Wolstenholme is making his fourth consecutive appearance in the match. The 40-year-old former British Amateur champion also played in 1995, 1997 and 1999.
The GB&I team also includes 19-year-old Nick Dougherty. The Nick Faldo prot?g? has prepared by playing four European Tour events. Dougherty has made the cut in all four, including a 12th-place finish in the Benson & Hedges International Open.
Steven O'Hara, 20, is one of two Scotsmen in the team. O'Hara, who played for GB&I in the Eisenhower Trophy last year in Berlin, has had an excellent amateur campaign this season, winning the St. Andrews Links Trophy and reaching the quarterfinals of the British Amateur championship at Prestwick. Marc Warren, a member of the Scottish team that won the European Team Championship in Sweden, joins O'Hara.
British Amateur champion Michael Hoey is one of two Irish players on the team. The other is Graeme McDowell, former University of Alabama at Birmingham player and winner of the 2000 Irish Amateur Close Championship.
Rounding out the team are Jamie Elson, the 20-year-old Augusta State player, and 22-year-old Richard McEvoy, winner of this year's Lytham Trophy and the Irish Amateur Open Championship. Elson and McEvoy are English and are joined by 32-year-old Welshman Nigel Edwards.
McEvoy says his GB&I team is as good as the one that won the match two years ago at Nairn. He says his side's international experience will help in Georgia.
"I think we've got an equally strong team with the side that won at Nairn two years ago," McEvoy said. "But it's a more daunting challenge because playing away from home is always going to be that little bit more difficult.
"The very positive thing about the composition of the side is that there is a high percentage of the team who have had overseas success. Donald and Elson, for instance, have had much success at the U.S. college level.
"Graeme McDowell has won three college tournaments, too," McEvoy said. "Nick Dougherty has won the biggest tournament over there (the 1999 World Invitational Polo Junior Classic) as well as tournaments in Japan and Australia. Plus Gary Wolstenholme's won all over the world.
"So we have a team of people who have proved that they can go abroad and win things. That's a huge difference. I think as a result of that we really have due cause to going over there with great expectations and defend the Walker the first time."
McEvoy likes the blend of his team.
"We've got a good balance of experience in Wolstenholme, Donald and Edwards, and young potential in players who have done well in the domestic tournaments this year," he said.
The reserves for the team are Scots Craig Watson, a 35-year-old former British Amateur champion, and Barry Hume, 19.
This story appeared on golfweek.com on July 10. It was written by Alistair Tait, a contributing editor from Europe
GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND WALKER CUP TEAM
x-reserve, y-non-playing captain
Luke Donald, 23
Nick Dougherty, 19
Jamie Elson, 20
Steven O'Hara, 20
Marc Warren, 20
Graeme McDowell, 21
Michael Hoey, 22
Richard McEvoy, 22
Nigel Edwards, 32
Gary Wolstenholme, 40
y-Peter McEvoy
x-Craig Watson, 35
x-Barry Hume, 19
