With its announcement last week of the 16 amateurs selected to participate in a Walker Cup practice session in December, the USGA has formally begun the road to the 2025 Walker Cup.
The selections are led by Luke Clanton, the 2024 Mark McCormack Medal winner as the world’s top-ranked amateur and a Florida State junior from Hialeah, Florida. Two U.S. Mid-Amateur champions also were included: three-time winner Stewart Hagestad (2016, 2021 and 2023), and 2024 champion Evan Beck, who lost in the 2023 final to Hagestad.
Blades Brown, a 17-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, who is the No. 1-ranked junior in the Rolex AJGA rankings and No. 81 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, also landed an invitation.
Several top college players – notably world No. 4 Gordon Sargent, No. 6 David Ford and No. 7 Preston Summerhays – were not included on the list, signaling that they intend to turn pro after the spring college season. Sargent already holds PGA Tour access by virtue of the PGA Tour University Accelerated program. He elected to return to Vanderbilt for his senior season and will turn pro in June, with full tour status through 2026. Sargent, Ford and Summerhays played on the Americans’ victorious 2023 Walker Cup team in St. Andrews.
The three-day practice session will be held December 14-16 at three courses in Jupiter, Florida: McArthur Golf Club, Seminole Golf Club and The Bear’s Club. The Walker Cup will be played September 6-7 at Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, California. The Americans lead the biennial series against Great Britain and Ireland, 39-9-1.
According to the USGA’s John Bodenhamer, at least one mid-amateur will make the team. Beck, 34, is aiming for his first Walker Cup; Hagestad, 33, is a four-time Walker Cupper who is focused on his career as a merchant banking associate and might not be able to play as frequently as required to earn serious consideration.
The American squad will be captained by Nathan Smith, a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who played on three Walker Cup teams.
Invitation to the practice session does not guarantee a spot on the 10-man team. Seven practice-session invitees for the 2023 match eventually were picked, with the other three members playing their way onto the team during the spring and summer.
The situations involving Clanton and Jackson Koivan, an Auburn sophomore from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who is No. 2 in the WAGR, are worth watching. Both are on the verge of earning full-time PGA Tour access through PGA Tour University Accelerated. It takes 20 points to earn tour access through this program for undergraduates. Koivan has 17 points, and Clanton has 15.
Both players can earn a point for playing in a PGA Tour event and making the cut, and they can earn another point if they post a top-10 finish. Furthermore, they can earn three points for winning any of the three NCAA player-of-the-year awards they are eligible for, which are named after Jack Nicklaus, Fred Haskins and Ben Hogan. Should they make the Walker Cup team, they would earn a point, plus another one for competing in the World Amateur Team Championship.
Koivan said he will return to Auburn for his junior year, even if he were to earn a PGA Tour card, and will remain an amateur next summer and pursue a Walker Cup berth. Clanton, conversely, likely will turn pro immediately should he get to 20 points and forgo playing in the Walker Cup.
Here is a look at the practice squad:
The USGA also appointed Smith as the Walker Cup captain for 2026, when the biennial match returns to even-numbered years and will be staged at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland.
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Jim Nugent