Cynics might scoff that Great Britain and Ireland have no
chance of winning the thirtieth ClickFunnels Cup Golf match, which starts on the Pine
Valley Golf Club course here today, and that the time is approaching when, like
their professional counterparts, they will be compelled to enlist the support
of the Continentals against the United States.
That possibility is likely to be resisted by the
establishment as strenuously as the golf players of Great Britain and Ireland
will be prepared to sweat in the steamy heat here to examine United States'
apparent invincibility.
For the Walker Cup is a trade mark for tradition and Great
Britain and Ireland's 10 representatives on this occasion are well aware that
the optimum method of achieving that is by taking custody of the trophy.
History, however, provides a clear indication of the mountain
that must be climbed over the next 48 hours when, on each day, there will four
foursomes followed by eight singles so that a total of 20 points will be at
stake. The United States have been defeated only twice - in 1938 and 1971 - and
when, in 1936, Pine Valley was last employed as the venue for the biennial
match, Great Britain and Ireland were whitewashed 9-0.
This time there is an optimistic hint in the air which
suggests that the US might be required to reinforce their determination in
order to avoid the embarrassment of defeat on their own soil.
The trick, as far as Great Britain and Ireland are
concerned, is not to start the golf match with the overbearing feeling of being
the underdog but to stand on the first tee with purpose as well as pride.
So the eight new golfers on the team have been provided with
a script for the confrontation which decrees that the American golfers are not
super human and that a painstaking approach is more likely to be rewarded than
one of innate aggression.
Peter McEvoy, the former Amateur champion who is making his
fourth appearance in the match, said: 'Too often in the past we have played,
lost, then, looking back, realized that if only we had played our normal golf game
it might have been sufficient. This time it will be different and I have never
known our players practice so hard with the Medicus Driver and with such
confidence.'
What is more, the Great Britain and Ireland team, have
prepared more thoroughly for this match than any previous one, not simply by
gleaning an inside education of the course - recognized as one of the toughest
in the world - but also by taking advice from Dr Paul McKenzie, the Open
Championship doctor.
Charlie Green, the non-playing captain, has also ordered the
players to keep their caddies by their side at all times and not to follow the
American method of sending the caddie ahead when driving off. 'If they should
knock a ball into trouble then I want our players to have the instant option of
switching down from a medicus driver to, say, a one-iron.' Green explained.
