WALKER CUP SQUAD IN ACTION AT ROYAL ABERDEEN THIS WEEK

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R and A
Members of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Squad will play a training match from Wednesday to Friday this week at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, in advance of September’s match against the USA.
The squad will be split into two teams of eight players, who will play four foursomes matches on Wednesday, four foursomes and eight singles on Thursday, and eight singles on Friday.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a training match in advance of the Walker Cup,” said GB and I captain Nigel Edwards, pictured on right by Cal Carson Golf Agency.
“We’re hopefully going to give the squad a taste of the standard to which, if selected, they will be expected to perform, and an idea of the pressure they will come under against the USA in September.
“Although many of them have played a great deal of competitive team golf, nothing matches the Walker Cup in terms of occasion and atmosphere, so it is important that we prepare ourselves for that.”
Ten players will form GB and I’s team to face the USA in the 43rd Walker Cup Match, at Royal Aberdeen in September. The selected team will be announced in August.
Stiggy Hodgson, 21, who secured two points for GB and I in the 2009 encounter at Merion Golf Club, Pennsylvania, is the only player in the squad with previous Walker Cup experience. Many of those picked, however, represented GB and I in the St Andrews Trophy Match against the Continent of Europe at Castelconturbia Golf Club, Italy, while others, including 2010 Jacques Leglise Trophy captain Rhys Pugh, have played for GB and I at boys' level.
Tyrrell Hatton, who made his major championship debut at St Andrews last year, will be in attendance, along with 2009 Boys' Amateur Champion Tom Lewis and Northern Ireland’s 2010 Lytham Trophy Champion, Paul Cutler. Alastair Jones, Andy Sullivan, Michael Stewart and Amateur Championship runner-up James Byrne are unable to attend.
David Law, the 2009 Scottish Amateur Champion, who is from north east Scotland, has been invited to join the squad for the session, along with Ireland’s Dermot McElroy and Steven Brown of England.
GB and I selectors will be at all major amateur events throughout the season, and anyone whose performances merit selection will be invited to attend squad training sessions.
Access to the Royal Aberdeen course is free for this week's three-day (May 11 to 13) training match. Free parking is available, and spectators are welcome to bring cameras.
Players:
Steven Brown, Paul Cutler, Alan Dunbar, Rhys Enoch, Oliver Farr, Tyrrell Hatton, Stiggy Hodgson, Ross Kellett, David Law, Tom Lewis, Dermot McElroy, Kris Nicol, Kevin Phelan, Rhys Pugh, Jack Senior, Darren Wright.

ORDER OF PLAY AT BALGOWNIE THIS WEEK
Wednesday
Foursomes: 2pm, 2.08pm, 2.16pm and 2.24pm
Thursday
Foursomes: 8.32am, 8.40am, 8.48am and 8.56am
Singles : 1.12pm, 1.20pm, 1.28pm and 1.36pm
Friday
Foursomes: 8.32am, 8.40am, 8.48am and 8.56am


*Tickets for the Walker Cup Match on Saturday-Sunday, September 10-11 are available at WalkerCupTickets.randa.org, or by calling The R and A Ticket Office on +44 (0) 1334 460000.