Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup captain Dean Robertson feels that home support could be crucial as his side look to end the United States’ stranglehold on the trophy.
Tickets for the 51st Walker Cup, which will be staged on September 5 and 6, are now on sale and early applicants can avail of an early-bird special of €70 for a weekend pass going to the first 500 applicants.
GB&I’s last victory came at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2015 – with a team that featured Ireland’s ‘Famous Five’ in Paul Dunne, Gary Hurley, Gavin Moynihan, Jack Hume, and Cormac Sharvin – and though there are several months left before his lineup will be completed, Robertson believes that the Irish will again play a vital part if they’re to reverse their fortunes.
The Irish fans, Robertson explained, would be “most definitely our 11th man”.
“It’s not about the crack off the club faces,” the former European Tour winner said. “It’s about the craic in the 19th.
“The Irish fans are off the charts. Having experienced them in many an Irish Open, I’m now really going to look forward to captaining the GB&I Walker Cup team at Lahinch.”
“I think Lahinch is unique,” he added. “The town itself, you could only really compare St Andrews, but Lahinch just has its own unique atmosphere. It just comes alive.
“Hopefully we will be able to galvanise support from the Irish crowd, who are going to play a huge part, and really try to give them something to get behind.”
Robertson got his first taste of captaincy last year at Cypress Point, and he feels that the change in scheduling with the Walker Cup moving to even years to avoid clashing with the Eisenhower Trophy – the World Amateur Team Championships – which moved to odd years to avoid clashing with the Olympics, will be beneficial to GB&I as just three of Robertson’s 10-man team that assembled in Monterrey have turned pro.
Stuart Grehan, playing in his first season after regaining amateur status, and Amateur Championship runner-up Gavin Tiernan – both representing County Louth Golf Club – were selected for the 2025 staging, and Robertson paid tribute to the contributions both players made in what was ultimately a losing effort.
He branded Grehan, with whom he’s had a relationship that dates back to the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup where Robertson served as a vice-captain, as “a real leader in the team room,” and somebody that he’s in regular contact with, and suggested that Tiernan’s final-round performance was one of the match’s highlights.
“Gavin was the only person to win his singles on the Sunday at Cypress,” Robertson said. “He beat Michael La Sasso, who’s now moved on to his millions on the LIV tour.”
The qualification process concludes after the South of Ireland Championship at Lahinch in late July with the five leading GB&I players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings selected, leaving Robertson with five captain’s picks to complete his lineup and he admitted that links golf performance could be a strong determining factor.
Golf Ireland’s amateur championship season kicks off with the West of Ireland Championship at County Sligo next week, and Robertson said that the winner of the West, East and North of Ireland championships – providing they’re eligible – will likely be invited to form a practice squad at Lahinch prior to the team being finalised.
And the South of Ireland Championship in particular will have a big say. Though he admitted that playing in the South is not a prerequisite for selection, he expects that many of his final team members will be in the field for what will be an ideal dress rehearsal.
And along with Grehan and Tiernan, he singled out Caolan Rafferty – who made history in 2025 by becoming the first player to win all four provincial amateur championships when he added the North of Ireland Championship to his South, West and East titles – in particular as a player that he’s keeping a close eye on.
“I’m looking for form players, looking for winners. Who’s to say the winner of the South of Ireland isn’t a Walker Cup player this year?” he asked.
“There are other fine exponents of the South of Ireland who are past champions, who are recently winners of scratch cups.
“And I’m well aware of who they are, and the eyes are on them, and I’m in contact with them, and I’m urging them to put themselves forward,” he added before name-checking the Dundalk man, recent six-stroke winner of the Laytown & Bettystown Scratch Cup, who played in the 2019 Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool.
While he has no plans to set the golf course up in any particular way at Lahinch, the green speeds are the one area in which he’s adamant that GB&I can gain an advantage and has asked the Lahinch Greenkeeping staff to ensure that they are running at around 10 on the Stimpmeter – an advantage that was reversed last year when Cypress Points greens were running at around 14.
“We won’t be putting down the bonnet of a car, and the wind should be blowing a little bit,” he said. “Let the golf course be natural, be the brilliant course that it is.”
As it’s the first time that the Walker Cup is being held in Ireland since 2007 when a United States side featuring the likes of Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel narrowly defeated a GB&I team containing Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett, demand is sure to be high for tickets.
Once again, kids under the age of 16 will be admitted free of charge, as is entry for all to the Opening Ceremony held on the tournament’s eve on September 4.
Leave a comment