Crail Golfing Society member Connor Graham has become the youngest GB & I player to be chosen to play in the Walker Cup.
Graham, who turns 17 in late October, is just one of two Scots who will tee-up on September 2nd and 3rd at the Old Course in St. Andrews for the 49th hosting of the biennial competition against the Americans.
Connor Graham becomes the youngest to represent GB & I at the Walker Cup
We understand his selection makes him the youngest GB & I player ever and nearly a month younger than England’s ‘Mr. 59’ Oliver Fisher who was aged 16 years and 11 months on the opening day of the 2005 Walker Cup in Chicago.
Graham was born 24th October, 2005 and that would make him 16-years, 10 months and 9 days old in teeing-up on the Old Course.
Graham will be also some 18 months younger than Rory McIlroy who was aged 18 years and four months in playing in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down.
Nairn’s Callum Scott, 20, is the other Scot in the GB & I side and follows his brother who was a member of th 2019 GB & I side at Royal Liverpool.
GB & I captain Stuart Wilson, himself a former member of the winning 2003 side and now Secretary at the Forfar Golf Club, chose four Irishmen, three Englishmen, the two Scots and a lone Welsh player in his 10-man squad.
The hosting of the Walker Cup early next month marks the first time in 75-years the Walker Cup has been held on the Old Course and with GB & I looking to regain the trophy for a first occasion since their seven point success in 2015 at Royal Lytham.
Of the 48 matches, USA has won 38 matches, Great Britain and Ireland have won 9 with 1 match tied.
“We have selected 10 players who we believe will give us the best chance of regaining the Walker Cup,” said Wilson, who was captain in the defeat at fabled Seminole in 2021.
“This is their opportunity to perform on the biggest stage in amateur golf and have their name written alongside some of the greatest names in the history of the sport.
“There is arguably no more iconic venue in the world to achieve that feat than on the Old course in St Andrews. We look forward to the challenge.”
Graham ticked most the boxes to earn GB & I team selection including capturing this year’s Scottish Amateur Open and finished runner-up in the French Under-18 Amateur Open.
In 2022 he won The R&A Junior Open at Monifieth, finished runner-up in the Lytham Trophy, tied third in the Scottish Boys’ Amateur Open and shared seventh in the St Andrews Links Trophy.
The GB&I side has a youthful look overall, as has become the norm in recent years with only 30-year-old Matthew McClean from Malone in Ireland over the age of 24.
Alex Maguire, Liam Nolan and Mark Power – who played in the 2021 matches – are the other Irish players on the team.
James Ashfield represents Wales, while 19-year-old Jack Bigham, the highly rated Barclay Brown – who also played in 2021 – and John Gough are the three English players.
2023 GB&I Walker Cup team
James Ashfield (Delamere Forest), Jack Bigham (Harpenden), Barclay Brown (Hallamshire), John Gough (The Berkshire), Connor Graham (Crail & Blairgowrie), Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown), Matthew McClean (Malone), Liam Nolan (Galway), Mark Power (Kilkenny), Calum Scott (Nairn).
Reserves Tyler Weaver (Bury St Edmonds), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk)
