16 Players Invited to Walker Cup Practice Session


Sixteen players have been invited to an in early January practice session for the 2011 U.S. Walker Cup team. The session will be held at Old Memorial Golf Club near Tampa.

The invitation was extended by Steve Smyers, chair of the USGA's International Team Selection Committee, who said that players not invited to the session would still be considered for the team. "I fully expect someone not (at Old Memorial) to play their way onto the team," he said.

The session will provide an opportunity for team-building, alternate-shot practice and allow prospective team members to meet Walker Cup captain Jim Holtgrieve, 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, and the USGA selectors. The 2011 Walker Cup will be played September 10-11 at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland.

Three Walker Cup veterans were among those invited. That group includes Peter Uihlein, Bud Cauley and Nathan Smith, who were members of the victorious 2009 American team at Merion GC where, combined, they posted a stellar record of 9-1-1.

Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Uhlien is currently the No.1 ranked amateur in the world. Smith is a three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. Cauley, ranked No. 35 in the world, is now a junior at the University of Alabama.

The invitees include:

• Blayne Barber, Auburn sophomore (No. 20 in Golfweek/amateurgolf.com U.S. Rankings): Round of 32, U.S. Amateur; Sweet 16, Western Amateur; 3rd, Southern Amateur; T-4 Players Amateur; 3rd, Jones Cup; Won, UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate; No. 20 in Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Patrick Cantlay, UCLA freshman (11): Semifinalist, U.S. Amateur; Runner-up, U.S. Amateur stroke play; 2nd, Southern Amateur; Won, Gifford Collegiate; No. 4 in Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Bud Cauley, Alabama junior (32): Member, 2009 Walker Cup team (3-1-0); 5th, Southern Amateur; Second-team All-American in 2009; Won, 2009 Players Amateur; No. 10 in Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Alex Ching, San Diego junior (27): Runner-up, NCAA Championship; Round of 16, U.S. Amateur; Round of 64, British Amateur; T-13, 2009 NCAA Championship.

• David Chung, Stanford junior (2): U.S. Amateur runner-up; Won, Western Amateur; Won, Porter Cup; T-9, World Amateur Team Championship; Won, 2009 North & South; Member, U.S. Palmer Cup team (4-0-0).

• Harris English, Georgia senior (18): Quarterfinals, U.S. Amateur Public Links; Round of 16, U.S. Amateur; T-10, Porter Cup; T-27, Nationwide Tour's Stadion Athens Classic; T-8, Jones Cup.

• John Hahn, Kent State senior (19): Round of 16, U.S. Amateur; T-6, NCAA Championship; Won, Gopher Invitational; Won, 2009 Western Amateur.

• Russell Henley, Georgia senior (4): T-16, U.S. Open; 4th, Porter Cup; T-7, Southern Amateur; Fred Haskins Award winner; Golfweek College Player of the Year; Won, Brickyard Collegiate; Won, SEC Championship; T-34, Nationwide Tour's Stadion Athens Classic; Member, U.S. Palmer Cup (3-0-1).

• Scott Langley, Illinois senior (3): T-16, U.S. Open; Won, NCAA Championship; Quarterfinals, U.S. Amateur; T-31, World Amateur Team Championship; No. 22, Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Gregor Main, UCLA junior (13): Runner-up, Western Amateur; Won, 2009 Southern Amateur; T-5, Pacific Coast Amateur; T-9, NCAA Championship; Made cut (70th), 2009 PGA Tour's Buick Invitational; No. 26, Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine senior (15); Won, Pacific Coast Amateur; T-7, Southern Amateur; 2nd, Sahalee Players Championship; Qualified, 2010 U.S. Open; Won, William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.

• Patrick Reed, Augusta State junior (T-6): Round of 32, U.S. Amateur; Round of 16, U.S. Amateur Public Links; T-2, U.S. Amateur Public Links stroke play; T-7, Sunnehanna Amateur; Won, Jones Cup; Semifinals, 2009 Western Amateur; Semifinals, 2008 U.S. Amateur; No. 14 in Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Nathan Smith, mid-am (T-6); Three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (2010, '09, '03); Medalist, 2010 and 2009 U.S. Mid-Am; Member, 2009 Walker Cup team (2-0-1); 2nd, Sunnehanna Amateur; T-6, Jones Cup; 5th, Copa de las Americas.

• Jordan Spieth, high-school senior (41): T-16, PGA Tour's Byron Nelson Championship; Won, AJGA Ping Invitational; Won, 2009 U.S. Junior; Medalist, 2009 U.S. Junior. T-2, AJGA Junior Players Champonship; 5th, Azalea Invitational.

• Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State junior (1): Member, 2009 Walker Cup team (4-0-0); Won, U.S. Amateur; Won, Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational; T-4, World Amateur Team Championship; T-2, Porter Cup; Won, Sahalee Players Championship; T-7, Sunnehanna Amateur; T-2, NCAA Championship; Won, NCAA Southeast Regional; No. 1, Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• Andrew Yun, Stanford sophomore (T-6) : Round of 32, U.S. Amateur Public Links; T-8, Players Amateur; Won, Dogwood Invitational; T-4, Northeast Amateur; Won, The Prestige; No. 3, Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings; T-2, 2009 Porter Cup; Sweet 16, 2009 Western Amateur.

Other Notes

Langley won the 2010 NCAA Championship as a junior at Illinois. Cantlay, ranked No. 4 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Collegiate Rankings, was a semifinalist at the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay, where he placed second in stroke-play qualifying; he was also runner-up in the prestigious Southern Amateur.

Several past Pacific Coast Amateur competitors, including reigning champion Andrew Putnam of University Place, Wash., were among 16 players invited by the USGA to an early January practice session for the 2011 team at Old Memorial GC near Tampa.

Putnam, a senior at Pepperdine University, is looking for the chance to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Michael, who won the 2004 Pacific Coast Amateur and played on the 2005 Walker Cup team. This past season, Putnam qualified for the U.S. Open, finished tied for seventh in the Southern Amateur, and was runner-up at the Sahalee Players Championship.

Also picked was Dallas high school senior Jordan Speith, who made a splash on the national scene by making the cut in the PGA Tour's Byron Nelson Championship in May. Missing is 2009 Walker Cup member Morgan Hoffman, who is expected to turn pro after the NCAA Championship next June.