Tide's Cauley Begins Walker Cup Play

ARDMORE, Pa. – University of Alabama sophomore golfer Bud Cauley begins play in the 2009 Walker Cup on Saturday morning in foursomes matches at the Merion Golf Club just outside of Philadelphia, Pa.

Friday’s practice round was shortened to five or six holes after rain washed out any chance of further work. But the United States team has been practicing together off and on for the last month and have spent the week leading up to the event getting to know the layout of the Merion tract.

“We have been having a great time,” Alabama sophomore Bud Cauley said following an abbreviated practice round on Friday. “We have a great group of guys on this team and I’ve know the other nine guys for a long time. I’m not going to lie; it has been a pretty big buildup to this. We have been practicing together for a long time leading up to this. I can’t wait to tee it up tomorrow.

“My dad and granddad were in the military and I grew up in a very patriotic family. It means a lot to me to come out here and represent my country. Hopefully I can come out here and play to the best of my ability.”

The American team consists of 10 golfers, including Cauley, Fowler, Brendan Gielow, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffman, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Smith, Cameron Tringale, Peter Uihlein and Drew Weaver. The Great Britain and Ireland team is made up of Wallace Booth, Gavin Dear, Tommy Fleetwood, Luke Goddard, Matt Haines, Eamonn ‘Stiggy’ Hodgson, Sam Hutsby, Niall Kearney, Chris Paisley and Dale Whitnell.

The morning foursomes, which tee off at 6:30 a.m. (CDT), are followed by eight singles matches that start at 12 p.m. Foursomes is a match where two players compete against two other players in alternate short format, with each side playing just one ball.

Sunday’s matches will also consist of four foursome matches in the morning followed by 10 singles matches in the afternoon.

The Walker Cup scoring format awards one point for each match win. In the event a match goes 18 holes without a winner, one-half point is awarded to each side. If the two teams are tied at the end of Sunday’s competition, the team that won the previous competition – the United States – retains the trophy.

The Walker Cup will have four hours of television coverage on Golf Channel. Singles matches will be aired from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13. Online coverage of the Walker Cup can be found at www.walkercup.org or at www.usga.org.

The 2009 Walker Cup is being held at the prestigious Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. Merion has previously hosted 17 USGA championships, the most recent being the 2005 U.S. Amateur Championship. The club has served as the host site for four U.S. Opens, six U.S. Amateurs and four U.S. Women’s Amateurs. No other course or club in the United States has staged more USGA championships. Merion is also slated to host the 113th U.S. Open Championships in 2013.

The United States has a commanding 33-7-1 edge in Cup play and has won two straight Walker Cup matches. Walker Cup play began in 1922 after then-USGA president George Herbert Walker met with the R&A and offered to donate a trophy for the event. George Herbert Walker is the maternal grandfather of George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, and the great-grandfather of the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush.