Category Archives: Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is The Ryder Cup of Amateur Golf (Sept 5-6, 2026)

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If you love the Ryder Cup then you need to tune into the Golf Channel this weekend to watch the Walker Cup. This year the Walk Cup is being played in Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club (The Old Course) so be ready to get up early if you want to watch the early matches live. Golf Channel times:

Saturday, September 5: 3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome matches and and eight singles matches

Sunday, September 6: 3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome morning matches and 10 singles matches.

I assume the Golf Channel will rebroadcast in the evening but I can’t find any times listed.

The Teams: On paper the USA should win over GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) because the world amateur golf rankings for the USA team members are all in the top 25 and GB&I team members world amateur golf rankings are not as strong. GB&I does have two top ten players (Tyler Weaver and Luke Poulter) but the rest of the team are not as high in the rankings.

The USA team really is impressive and if you want to learn more about each member you can read Team USA bios on the USGA website. The website also has the team GB&I bios.

Now I think there are a number of reasons the GB&I team can give the USA a run for their money:

(1) It’s a home game for GB&I which always seems to make a difference.

(2) A few of the top players on the USA side have not shown very good form in recent big amateur events. Specifically, the #1 player in the WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) Preston Stout and #4 Ethan Fang did not make the cut to match play at the U.S. Amateur.

(3) If GB&I can get off to a fast start and win the majority of the alternate shot matches that would help; we all remember how that was the advantage for Team Europe at the most recent Ryder Cup.

Cheering for the USA

Team USA (defending champions) needs 13 points to win and GB&I need 13.5 points to win. I am definitely cheering for Team USA. I want to see good golf on both sides so that it is exciting to watch. I never really enjoy blowouts (unless the points don’t really indicate the closeness of matches). I want to see it come down to the single matches on the last day to decide the winning team.

Next UP – THE SOLHEIM CUP is the following week from September 7 to 13, 2026. It is being hosted by Team Europe in Netherlands at Bernardus Golf. And yes, I will post a blog post next week with all the details.

Tis’ the Season of Match Play

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If you love to watch match play then this is the time for you to make excuses to watch a lot of golf on TV. However to watch live you better be an early riser since all the events are in Europe in 2023. I assume the Golf Channel will have plenty of coverage leading up to the actual match play days but below is information on how to watch the actual match days (USA information only).

September 2 & 3: The Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is the amateur match play event with the top males amateur golfers from the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. It is organized by the USGA (the governing body of golf in the United States) and the R&A (the governing body of golf for the rest of the world and headquartered in St. Andrews, Scotland).

You can view the Walker Cup on the Golf Channel. The event is being contended at The Old Course at St. Andrews so that is a treat to see as a golf fan.

Day 1: Saturday, September 2 starting at 8 am (est) Also, it will be rebroadcasted Saturday night at 9 pm est.

Day 2: Sunday, September 3, starting at 8 am (est) to 2 pm on Golf Channel.

September 22 to 24: The Solheim Cup

The ladies take the stage at Finca Cortesín in Andalucía, Spain. The USA and Europe both have stellar teams so it should be an exiting event. The Solheim cup record is 10 USA and Europe 7 but Europe has won the last two meetings (2019 at Gleneagles in Scotland and 2021 at The Inverness Club in Ohio).

When to watch the coverage live on the Golf Channel

Day 1, Friday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 2, Saturday: 2 am to 1 pm (est)

Day 3, Sunday: 5 to 11 am (est)

My bet is that there will be replays later in the day if you don’t care about seeing it live.

September 29 to October 1: Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is being contested at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, Italy. This will be the 44th event with the USA leading in the series (27-14-2) but Europe has won nine of the last 13 editions of the Ryder Cup. The first 39 years the matches were between the USA and GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) but in 1979 the GB&I team was expanded to include all of Europe; thus making the matches more competitive.

It is early to confirm but here is the broadcast schedule I found online:

Friday, September 29 – USA Network, 1:30 am to Noon (est)

Saturday, September 30 – USA Network, 1:30 to 3 am (est) and NBC 3 am to Noon (est)

Sunday, October 1 – 5:30 am to 1 PM (est) on NBC

Side Bar: There is also the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup but they are not televised. You can follow the scoring online at the respective websites for the events.