Days after a Walker Cup practice session wrapped up at Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Florida, the U.S. Golf Association’s International Team Selection Committee has set a date for the first round of U.S. team selections.
Selection criteria for a portion of the team remains the same for building the 2021 team. That begins with the three highest-ranked American players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The cutoff date for those exemptions will fall after the Feb. 10 WAGR update.
The 2021 Walker Cup match will be played earlier than usual, having been moved from its traditional early September date to May 8-9 – just before the NCAA golf postseason begins in earnest. The matches will be played at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, an ultra-private course that the golf world got a rare glimpse of in May 2020 when it hosted the TaylorMade Driving Relief exhibition match that featured Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
Related: Check out the 16 players invited to a Walker Cup practice
So far, only one player has played his way onto the 10-man U.S. team. Tyler Strafaci accomplished that with his U.S. Amateur win at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon, in August.
Nathaniel Crosby returns for his second captaincy after leading the Americans to victory at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, in 2019. Crosby attended the Bay Hill practice session last week that included Strafaci and 15 Walker Cup hopefuls.
[lawrence-related id=778078851,778077888,778044597]