Jim Holtgrieve, captain of the 2011
U.S. Walker Cup team that lost to Great
Britain and Ireland at Royal Aberdeen
in September, will get an opportunity
to avenge that defeat. Holtgrieve will
Jim Holtgrieve (right) and Nigel Edwards
captain the U.S. team for the 44th
Walker Cup matches, to be held Sept.
7-8, 2013, at the National Golf Links
of America in Southampton, N. Y. The
course was the site of the first match
in 1922.
Holtgrieve, of St. Louis, had a stellar
amateur career that includes a winning
record as a member of three victori-
ous U.S. Walker Cup teams and an
individual triumph at the inaugural U.S.
Mid-Amateur in 1981.
Holtgrieve once again will face
off against Nigel Edwards, who was
reappointed GB&I captain late last
month.
“I am indeed honored once
again to be named to captain
the 2013 United States Walker
“I want to bring the Walker Cup
back to the United States, but I also
want to lead 10 men to have one of
the best golfing experiences they can
ever imagine. I thought I understood
the true spirit of the game. However,
the Walker Cup in Scotland proved
so much more to me about the real
meaning.”
The first issue Holtgrieve and the
USGA International Team selection
committee will have to wrestle with
involves three potential returning team
members – Patrick Cantlay, Jordan
Spieth and Patrick Rodgers. All three
are in the top 10 of the World Amateur
Golf Ranking, and all three face a new
landscape as it relates to the possibility
of turning professional.
U.S. Amateur champion Kelly Kraft
wondered aloud to a knowledgeable
amateur golf observer at The Spirit
International last week: “Which holiday
event should I play in?”
The question was prompted by a new
South Florida tournament that has been
created, setting up competition for elite
amateur players by the upstart with a
well-established amateur tournament.
The South Beach International Amateur
is a new 72-hole, stroke-play champion-
ship that will be played Dec. 20-23 at
Miami Beach GC and Normandy Shores
GC, both located in Miami Beach.
The tournament is being organized
by Jeff Hunt, formerly the tournament
director for the Dixie Amateur, a long-
standing holiday fixture on the amateur
schedule. Hunt left the Dixie after it
was purchased as a part of a change in
ownership this year at host club Heron
Bay GC in Coral Springs, Fla. The 81st
Dixie will be played December 19-22.
Both tournaments are seeking com-
petitive amateurs to fill their fields.
for more information on the
South Beach event.
here for more information on the
Dixie Amateur.
AMATEUR STATUS OVER SKINS POT
U.S. Mid-Amateur medalist Mike Mc-
Caffrey, reinstated earlier this year for
the second time after a long mini-tour
career, has been notified by the USGA
that he has forfeited his amateur status.
After a lengthy investigation, the
USGA determined that McCaffrey
accepted $8,500 in cash from a skins
game in August.
McCaffrey was asked to return the
medal he won for low score in his U.S.
Mid-Amateur sectional qualifier, as
well as the medal he won for low stroke
play qualifying score in the champion-
ship itself. He also was asked to return
the medal he earned from winning the
Texas Mid-Amateur Championship.
McCaffrey, 41, also won the Harvey
Penick Invitational this fall.
McCaffrey plans to appeal the rul-
ing, saying that he returned the $8,500
shortly after accepting it. According to
the USGA, repayment of funds received
does not correct the violation. It is not
known how long the appeal process will
take, should he proceed.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
Zoom level
fit page
fit width
A
A
fullscreen
share
print
clip
SlideShow
fullscreen
Open Article
article text for page
< previous story
|
next story >
add comment
|
read comments
Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help
