Walton Heath Golf Club to Host 2014 Palmer Cup
NORMAN, Okla. – Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, will play host to the 2014 Palmer Cup. Site of nearly 90 major amateur and professional championships and fame not confined to its courses and golfing heritage, Walton Heath is widely considered one of the game’s great clubs. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be contested between the top collegiate golfers from the United States and Europe on the Club’s Old Course June 26-28.
“Walton Heath Golf Club is delighted to host the 2014 Palmer Cup,” said Club Secretary Stuart Christie. “Our membership is looking forward to welcoming golfers of their calibre.”
Located less than 20 miles to the south of the centre of London, Walton Heath was founded in 1903. The Old Course was laid out by W. Herbert Fowler. It was Fowler’s first design and is one of the finest examples of heathland golf. The Old Course is still today ranked as one of the top 100 courses in the world. Truly one of the best tests of inland golf, Walton Heath also has the unique distinction of being the only English Club to have had a reigning Monarch as Captain, when the Prince of Wales became King during his Captaincy in 1935/6. King Edward VIII and British Prime Ministers Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Arthur Balfour and Winston Churchill all played their golf at Walton Heath, whose clubhouse walls and heathland turf have witnessed many a historic conversation over the years.
The Old Course, which plays to a championship length of 7462 yards and a par of 72, has hosted nearly 90 major amateur and professional championships in its illustrious history, including the 1981 Ryder Cup, The Senior Open Championship and five European Opens. The list also includes such prestigious amateur events as the English Amateur and the English Open Amateur Stroke-Play Championships, the British and English Ladies’ Amateur Championships, the British Seniors’ Open Amateur championship and the British Mid-Amateur Championship, as well as no fewer than 24 Golf Illustrated Gold Vase tournaments. More recently, the Club has introduced the South of England Open Amateur Championship and is also proud to host the U.S. Open European Qualifying event.
“Walton Heath Golf Club continues the Palmer Cup tradition of competing on the finest golf courses in the world,” said Palmer Cup Chairman Jim Awtrey. “The elite events the club has hosted and the testimonials from some of the world’s greatest players is a tribute to its excellence. We look forward to the Palmer Cup’s first visit to the South of England and one of the finest examples of heathland golf.”
The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 8-7-1.