| Dates | 30–31 May 1979 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Muirfield | ||||
| Location | Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland | ||||
| Captains |
| ||||
| |||||
| United States wins the Walker Cup | |||||
The 1979 Walker Cup, the 27th Walker Cup golf match, was played on 30 and 31 May 1979, at Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The event was won by the United States 15½ to 8½.
The United States had an 8½ to 7½ lead after the second day foursomes. In the final round of 8 singles, Great Britain and Ireland had just one win, by Allan Brodie, while the United States won the other 7 matches for a convincing win.[1]
Format
The format for play on Wednesday and Thursday was the same. There were four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 24 matches were played.
Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. Rather, each side earned ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.
Teams
Ten players for the United States and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.[2]
Great Britain & Ireland
& 
Captain: 
Rodney Foster
Gordon Brand Jnr- Allan Brodie
Jimmy Buckley- Iain Carslaw
- John Davies
- Geoffrey Godwin
- Ian Hutcheon
- Michael Kelley
- Brian Marchbank
- Peter McEvoy
United States
Captain: Dick Siderowf
- Doug Clarke
- Doug Fischesser
- Mike Gove
- Scott Hoch
- Jim Holtgrieve
- Griff Moody
- Mike Peck
- Jay Sigel
- Hal Sutton
- Marty West
Wednesday's matches
Morning foursomes
| & |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| McEvoy/Marchbank | 1 up |
Hoch/Sigel |
| Godwin/Hutcheon | 2 up |
West/Sutton |
| Brand/Kelley | 1 up |
Fischesser/Holtgrieve |
| Brodie/Carslaw | 2 & 1 |
Griff/Gove |
| 2 | Foursomes | 2 |
| 2 | Overall | 2 |
Afternoon singles
| & |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Peter McEvoy | halved | Jay Sigel |
| John Davies | 8 & 7 |
Doug Clarke |
| Ian Hutcheon | 6 & 4 |
Jim Holtgrieve |
| Jimmy Buckley | 9 & 7 |
Scott Hoch |
| Brian Marchbank | 1 up |
Mike Peck |
| Geoffrey Godwin | 3 & 2 |
Griff Moody |
| Michael Kelley | 3 & 2 |
Doug Fischesser |
| Allan Brodie | 3 & 2 |
Mike Gove |
| 3½ | Singles | 4½ |
| 5½ | Overall | 6½ |
Thursday's matches
Morning foursomes
| & |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Godwin/Brand | 4 & 3 |
Hoch/Sigel |
| Kelley/Hutcheon | halved | West/Sutton |
| McEvoy/Marchbank | 2 & 1 |
Fischesser/Holtgrieve |
| Carslaw/Brodie | halved | Clarke/Peck |
| 2 | Foursomes | 2 |
| 7½ | Overall | 8½ |
Afternoon singles
| & |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Peter McEvoy | 3 & 1 |
Scott Hoch |
| Gordon Brand Jnr | 2 & 1 |
Doug Clarke |
| Geoffrey Godwin | 3 & 2 |
Mike Gove |
| Ian Hutcheon | 2 & 1 |
Mike Peck |
| Allan Brodie | 3 & 2 |
Marty West |
| Michael Kelley | 3 & 2 |
Griff Moody |
| Brian Marchbank | 3 & 1 |
Hal Sutton |
| Iain Carslaw | 2 & 1 |
Jay Sigel |
| 1 | Singles | 7 |
| 8½ | Overall | 15½ |
References
- ↑ Jacobs, Raymond (1 June 1979). "Britain's Walker Cup singles flop". Glasgow Herald. p. 32.
- ↑ "1979 – HCEG, Muirfield". walkercup.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2018.