Grehan the only Irishman on Walker Cup team

Ten golfers have been selected to represent Great Britain and Ireland against the United States of America in the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch.

The match will take place on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September against the backdrop of the picturesque north-west coast of County Clare, Ireland, with GB&I aiming to win the famous trophy for the first time since its 16½-9½ victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2015.

Six members of the team that competed in the Walker Cup at Cypress Point last year return for GB&I, including Amateur Champion Stuart Grehan and Connor Graham, who will make his third successive appearance in the match. Eliot Baker, Luke Poulter, Niall Sheils Donegan and Tyler Weaver also feature for the second successive match, while Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook, Josh Hill and Jack Whaley will make their Walker Cup debuts.

Whaley became only the third Englishman to win the US Amateur after defeating Jay Leng Jr 4&3 at Merion last Sunday, while Grehan secured the biggest victory of his amateur career when he won The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool in June. Baker, Poulter and Weaver are among the other members of the team to have recorded notable individual victories over the last two seasons.

Robertson said, “It is a tremendous honour to captain Great Britain and Ireland again and I’m excited by the team we have selected for the match at Lahinch.

“We have a really exciting blend of players who have experienced the Walker Cup before and others who have earned their first opportunity through some excellent performances over the last year. We have players who have won important championships, performed at the highest level in amateur golf and demonstrated that they can deliver results in international match play.

“Playing at Lahinch will make this a particularly special Walker Cup. We know there will be fantastic support for the team in Ireland and our players will be determined to give those supporters plenty to get behind. We learned a great deal from Cypress Point and everyone involved is hugely motivated by the challenge ahead.”

The top five eligible players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, along with The Amateur Champion and US Amateur Champion were automatically selected with the balance being picked by the Captain to complete the team of ten.

The GB&I team:

Eliot Baker, England, Tiverton, 23
Ben Bolton, England, Enville, 19
Sam Easterbrook, England, Olton, 21
Connor Graham, Scotland, Blairgowrie, 19
Stuart Grehan, Ireland, County Louth, 33
Josh Hill, England, Fox Den, 22
Luke Poulter, England, Woburn, 22
Niall Shiels Donegan, Scotland, Meadow Club, 21
Tyler Weaver, England, Bury St Edmunds, 21
Jack Whaley, England, Rotherham, 22

Reserves:

Thomas Higgins, Ireland, Roscommon, 23
David Howard, Ireland, Fota Island, 27

Captain:

Dean Robertson, Scotland

Dean Robertson will captain GB&I for a third time, having previously led the team against the USA at Cypress Point and guided them to victory over the Continent of Europe in The St Andrews Trophy in Madrid. The 56-year-old Scot represented GB&I as a player in the 1993 match at Interlachen, defeating US amateur great Jay Sigel in the singles, and enjoyed an outstanding amateur career that included victories in the Scottish Youths Open Amateur, Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play and Scottish Amateur Championship. After turning professional, Robertson won the 1999 Italian Open on the European Tour and 2006 Scottish PGA Championship and made four appearances in The Open. Head of Golf at the University of Stirling since 2010, the highly regarded coach has helped develop numerous leading amateur players and will draw on his experience from Cypress Point as GB&I seek to regain the Walker Cup at Lahinch.

Player information:

Eliot Baker

Baker has continued his impressive rise since making his Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point in 2025. The Englishman enjoyed an excellent start to 2026, reaching the final of the Spanish International Amateur Championship before winning the individual title at the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande with a 15-under-par total, helping England secure the team title. He continued that form with a runner-up finish in the Brabazon Trophy. Baker arrived at Cypress Point following an equally impressive 2025, highlighted by a seven-shot victory in the Scottish Men’s Open Amateur Championship at North Berwick. He was also unbeaten in the St Andrews Trophy, contributing 3½ points to GB&I’s victory, before finishing as England’s leading points scorer at the Home Internationals.

Ben Bolton

Bolton has enjoyed an impressively consistent season to earn his first Walker Cup appearance at the age of 19. The Enville golfer tied for third in both the Lytham Trophy and the individual standings at the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande, where he also helped England secure the team title. He recorded further top-ten finishes at the Portuguese International Amateur and Spanish International Amateur before closing with a 66 to finish in the top-20 of the European Amateur Championship. Bolton also progressed to the match play stage of The Amateur Championship after rounds of 70 and 66 in qualifying. His performances continue an impressive rise through the England Golf pathway and build on a fine 2025 season in which he won the Berkhamsted Trophy and finished inside the top-ten at the Brabazon Trophy. Bolton has also played for GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.

Sam Easterbrook

Easterbrook has earned his first Walker Cup appearance following an impressive period on both sides of the Atlantic. The Olton golfer claimed his first college victory at the 2025 Puerto Rico Classic, finishing 15-under-par and helping Purdue University secure the team title, before returning to record another top-ten finish in the event in 2026. He went on to finish inside the top-20 at the NCAA Championship and was named in the PING All-Midwest Region team for the second successive year. Easterbrook also reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool and came close to securing a major championship debut through Final Qualifying for The 154th Open and the new Last-Chance Qualifier at Royal Birkdale.

Connor Graham

Graham will make his third successive Walker Cup appearance at Lahinch having made history at St Andrews in 2023 when aged 16 he became the youngest player ever to compete in the match. The Blairgowrie golfer has since qualified for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush in 2025 and twice finished as the leading stroke-play qualifier in The Amateur Championship. Graham continued his impressive development at Texas Tech in the last year, recording nine top-20 finishes in 12 events and earning All-America and First Team All-Big 12 honours. He was also a member of the winning International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup for the second successive year.

Stuart Grehan

Grehan has enjoyed a remarkable return to the amateur ranks, highlighted by victory in The Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool in June. The Irishman defeated Matt Moloney in the 36-hole Final to become the first Irish winner since 2019 and earn places in The 154th Open, the US Open and by tradition, the Masters Tournament. He had earlier finished tied-third in the 2026 Irish Amateur Open, having won that title and the Irish Amateur Close following his return to amateur golf in 2025. Grehan made his long-awaited Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point later that year, eight years after a broken forearm ended his hopes of playing in the 2017 match. Grehan has also previously played for GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy, featuring in the tied match against Continent of Europe at Prince’s in 2016. Lahinch holds particularly fond memories for the 33-year-old, who won the South of Ireland Championship there in 2015.

Josh Hill

Hill is another Walker Cup debutant following an impressive final college season with the University of Tennessee. The Englishman, who grew up in Dubai, recorded eight top-25 finishes in the last year, highlighted by third place at the NCAA Bryan Regional. His performances earned him PING All-Southeast Region honours. He reached the quarter-finals of the South of Ireland Amateur last month, losing to David Howard. Hill first attracted international attention in 2019 when, aged just 15, he won the Al Ain Open on the MENA Tour to become the youngest player to win a professional tournament carrying Official World Golf Ranking points. He finished his four-year Tennessee career with seven top-ten and 18 top-25 finishes. Hill has also previously represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.

Luke Poulter

Poulter returns to the GB&I Walker Cup team for a second successive appearance after another impressive season with the University of Florida. The Englishman won the 2026 NCAA Columbus Regional to claim his second college title, following victory in the Schenkel Invitational in 2025 and helped Florida secure the team title by 24 shots. His performances earned him Third Team All-America and Second Team All-SEC honours, while he was also a member of the winning International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup for the second successive year. Poulter made his Walker Cup debut at Cypress Point in 2025 after contributing 3½ points to GB&I’s St Andrews Trophy victory. The son of Ryder Cup player Ian Poulter, he has established an increasingly impressive record in his own right.

Niall Sheils Donegan

Sheils Donegan will make his second successive Walker Cup appearance having announced himself on the international stage with a memorable run to the semi-finals of the 2025 US Amateur at The Olympic Club. The Scot won a series of dramatic matches, defeating Walker Cup team-mate Luke Poulter, Christian Maas, leading stroke play qualifier Preston Stout and Jacob Modleski before losing on the 18th in the last four. This year, he was also a member of the winning International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Born in Scotland and raised in California, Sheils Donegan has continued his college career with the University of North Carolina. His amateur career also includes back-to-back Hawaii State Amateur titles in 2022 and 2023 and a runner-up finish in the Carris Trophy.

Tyler Weaver

Weaver has enjoyed an outstanding season with Florida State to earn his second appearance in the Walker Cup. The Englishman claimed his second collegiate title at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, winning in a play-off. The victory followed a runner-up finish at the Seminole Intercollegiate and Weaver ended the season with a 69.58 scoring average and four top-ten finishes, earning First Team All-America recognition from Golfweek. He made his major championship debut at the 2025 US Open and was unbeaten for GB&I in that year’s St Andrews Trophy, while also defeating then-world number one Jackson Koivun during the International team’s Arnold Palmer Cup victory.

Jack Whaley

Whaley enjoyed a thrilling victory at Merion to become only the third Englishman to win the US Amateur Championship on Sunday. The Florida State University senior defeated Stanford University’s Jay Leng Jr 4&3 in the 36-hole Final in the 126th staging of the Championship, having come through a play-off to reach the match play stage. Whaley – who spent his first two years at NAIA Dalton State College in Georgia before transferring last spring – joins Harold Hilton and Matt Fitzpatrick as Englishmen to have claimed the Havemeyer Trophy. By winning the title, Whaley earned exemptions into the US Open at Pebble Beach and The 155th Open at St Andrews in 2027, as well as a likely invitation to the Masters Tournament. While at Dalton, he won five NAIA tournaments and won every national honour in NAIA, including the Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Phil Mickelson Awards. In his debut season with Florida State he produced four top-tens.

Recent results:

2025 Cypress Point, USA 17 GB&I 9
2023 St Andrews, GB&I 11½ USA 14½
2021 Seminole, USA 14 GB&I 12
2019 Royal Liverpool, GB&I 10½ USA 15½
2017 Los Angeles CC, USA 19 GB&I 7
2015 Royal Lytham & St Annes, GB&I 16½ USA 9½
2013 National Golf Links of America, USA 17 GB&I 9
2011 Royal Aberdeen, GB&I 14 USA 12