Prior to the Pros

Fans wishing to reserve their place along the fairways of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., for the 2009 Walker Cup Match (Sept. 11-13) may purchase tickets and find directions and parking information online at www.2009walkercup.org.

First contested in 1922, the Walker Cup Match is a biennial team competition between 10 amateur golfers from the USA and from Great Britain and Ireland, in which 18 singles matches and eight foursomes (alternate shot) matches are played over two days. 

The United States Golf Association has revealed eight of the ten young men who will attempt to defend the Walker Cup against the Great Britain-Ireland squad Sept. 12-13 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA.

Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler and the University's of Georgia's Brian Harman, who are the only members of the team to have previously competed in the Walker Cup competition, headline the team that will be lead into battle by Buddy Marucci. 

LAKE FOREST, Ill.  - The turning point of Saturday afternoon's final match of the 107th Western Amateur came on the ninth hole at the blustery, sun-drenched and humid Conway Farms Golf Club.

Zach Barlow, a senior at the University of Illinois, had a downhill four-foot putt  that, if converted, would slow the momentum of Kent State junior John Hahn, who led Barlow 2-up and had a three-footer for birdie to restore a three-hole lead he had built earlier in the match but had seen slip the hole before. 

Lake City's Blayne Barber tamed the tough Stadium Course and dominated a talented field to take home the 92nd Florida State Amateur Championship.

The 19-year-old Barber finished the four-day event with an 11-under-par total of 277, nine strokes better than his nearest competitor.