The 1979 Walker Cup, the 27th Walker Cup golf match, was played on 30 and 31 May 1979, at Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The event was won by the United States 15½ to 8½.

27th Walker Cup Match
Dates30–31 May 1979
VenueMuirfield
LocationGullane, East Lothian, Scotland
Captains
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
15½ United States
United States wins the Walker Cup
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1981 →

The United States had an 8½ to 7½ lead after the second day foursomes. In the final round of 8 singles, Great Britain and Ireland had just one win, by Allan Brodie, while the United States won the other 7 matches for a convincing win.[1]

Format

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The format for play on Wednesday and Thursday was the same. There were four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 24 matches were played.

Each of the 24 matches was worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match was all square after the 18th hole extra holes were not played. Rather, each side earned ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulated at least 12½ points won the competition. If the two teams were tied, the previous winner would retain the trophy.

Teams

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Ten players for the United States and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.[2]

Great Britain & Ireland

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  &  
Captain:   Rodney Foster

United States

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Captain: Dick Siderowf

Wednesday's matches

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Morning foursomes

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  &   Results  
McEvoy/Marchbank   1 up Hoch/Sigel
Godwin/Hutcheon    2 up West/Sutton
Brand/Kelley   1 up Fischesser/Holtgrieve
Brodie/Carslaw    2 & 1 Griff/Gove
2 Foursomes 2
2 Overall 2

Afternoon singles

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  &   Results  
Peter McEvoy halved Jay Sigel
John Davies   8 & 7 Doug Clarke
Ian Hutcheon   6 & 4 Jim Holtgrieve
Jimmy Buckley   9 & 7 Scott Hoch
Brian Marchbank    1 up Mike Peck
Geoffrey Godwin    3 & 2 Griff Moody
Michael Kelley    3 & 2 Doug Fischesser
Allan Brodie   3 & 2 Mike Gove
Singles
Overall

Thursday's matches

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Morning foursomes

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  &   Results  
Godwin/Brand   4 & 3 Hoch/Sigel
Kelley/Hutcheon halved West/Sutton
McEvoy/Marchbank    2 & 1 Fischesser/Holtgrieve
Carslaw/Brodie halved Clarke/Peck
2 Foursomes 2
Overall

Afternoon singles

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  &   Results  
Peter McEvoy   3 & 1 Scott Hoch
Gordon Brand Jnr   2 & 1 Doug Clarke
Geoffrey Godwin   3 & 2 Mike Gove
Ian Hutcheon   2 & 1 Mike Peck
Allan Brodie    3 & 2 Marty West
Michael Kelley   3 & 2 Griff Moody
Brian Marchbank   3 & 1 Hal Sutton
Iain Carslaw   2 & 1 Jay Sigel
1 Singles 7
Overall 15½

References

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  1. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (1 June 1979). "Britain's Walker Cup singles flop". Glasgow Herald. p. 32.
  2. ^ "1979 – HCEG, Muirfield". walkercup.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2018.