PaddyTalksGolf

After six episodes telling the story of Lahinch, the people behind the club, the team preparing the course and the players who have actually lived the Walker Cup, we are finally here.
The Walker Cup is coming to Lahinch.
On September 5th and 6th, the United States will take on Great Britain and Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club in the 51st playing of the Walker Cup.
Twenty of the best amateur golfers in the world.
Twenty six matches.
Two teams.
One trophy with more than a century of history behind it.
In the final episode of the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series, I get you ready for the weekend.
We start with the basics.
What exactly is the Walker Cup?
How does the format work?
What are foursomes?
Why is match play so different?
And why can one hole, one match or one point completely change the direction of the weekend?
Then we meet the captains, Dean Robertson and Nathan Smith, before going through both teams, the reserves and some of the players who could become the stories of the weekend.
I also pick the players I will be watching most closely across the weekend.
Then we leave the team sheets behind and get onto the course.
Where should you actually watch the Walker Cup at Lahinch?
And why the final holes could provide some of the most dramatic match play of the entire weekend.
But this episode isn't just about the golf.
If you're coming to Lahinch, I have recommendations for where to get coffee, where to grab food, where to have a pint, where to bring the kids and what else you should experience while you're in Clare.
Because the Walker Cup is coming to Lahinch.
But Lahinch is much more than a golf course.
Can GB&I win the Walker Cup back?
And will we all be talking about this weekend for decades to come?
This is Episode 7 of 7 in the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series.
Let's make it one to remember.

Listen back to previous episodes at:
www.paddytalksgolf.com

The PaddyTalks Golf Podcast is POWERED BY ForeGolf Custom.
For your own tour level custom fitting experience, visit www.foregolf.ie and book your fitting today.
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What does it actually feel like to play in the Walker Cup?
For Episode 6 of the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series, Paddy is joined by John Murphy, who represented Great Britain and Ireland at the 2021 Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club.
John takes us inside the week and tells the story of finding out he had made the team in one of the most unusual ways possible.
He found the selection email in his spam folder.
From there, it was a week of nerves, anticipation, team bonding and ultimately playing some of the biggest golf of his amateur career.
John talks about arriving at Seminole, the incredible hospitality from the members, and how the course became even more intimidating the more they learned about it.
He also goes deep on playing alongside Mark Power, a partnership that had been developing since their Irish underage days.
Their second day of foursomes started in extraordinary fashion.
Birdie. Birdie. Eagle.
Three up after three against Pearson Coody and John Pak.
John explains what it felt like to walk onto the first tee with the Walker Cup finally becoming real, the presence of President George W. Bush, the nerves, and the moment he and Mark realised they were living out something they had dreamed about for years.
He also talks honestly about the other side of Walker Cup golf.
The pressure of knowing every point matters.
The four foot putt on the 17th.
And the feeling of letting yourself and your teammates down when it didn't go in.
With the 2026 Walker Cup now coming to Lahinch, John looks ahead to what could be an unforgettable week in Clare, why Lahinch is such a unique match play venue and why he believes the weather could play a huge role.
From the team room to the first tee, from Seminole to Lahinch, this is the Walker Cup from someone who has actually lived it.

Episode 6 of 7 in the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series.
Listen back to previous episodes at:
www.paddytalksgolf.com

The PaddyTalks Golf Podcast is POWERED BY ForeGolf Custom.
For your own tour level custom fitting experience, visit www.foregolf.ie and book your fitting today.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Episode 5 of the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series, we go inside the Walker Cup with Noel Fox, a former GB&I Walker Cup player who experienced the competition from both sides of the ropes.
Noel's Walker Cup story started when he was just 14.
In 1988, while attending the Irish Boys at The Island, he saw three players wearing grey jumpers with red lines. When he asked what the red lines meant, he was told they were from the Junior Walker Cup.
The Walker Cup was officially on his radar.
Three years later, Noel was watching the real thing from even closer.
He caddied at the 1991 Walker Cup at Portmarnock, giving him an incredibly unusual opportunity to see the preparation and atmosphere of the event from inside the GB&I camp. He also witnessed Phil Mickelson competing for the USA in front of huge crowds.
Eventually, Noel would go from caddying at the Walker Cup to playing in one himself.
At Ganton in 2003.
And that's where this conversation really takes us.

Listen back to previous episodes at:
www.paddytalksgolf.com

The PaddyTalks Golf Podcast is POWERED BY ForeGolf Custom.
For your own tour level custom fitting experience, visit www.foregolf.ie and book your fitting today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Walker Cup is no longer something we're looking at from the outside.
For Episode 4 of the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series, I sit down with Michael Hoey, a former Walker Cup player, five time European Tour winner and current DP World Tour referee, to hear what it is actually like to represent Great Britain and Ireland in one of amateur golf's greatest team events.
Michael's earliest Walker Cup memories came from watching players such as Phil Mickelson at Portmarnock in 1991. A decade later, he found himself walking onto the first tee at Ocean Forest as part of a GB&I team packed with future stars.
We go back to the moment the Walker Cup became something Michael genuinely wanted to play in, the selection process, receiving the call and arriving in America.
And then we get into the matches.
Michael was paired with Graham McDowell for both foursomes sessions, winning both matches, before adding another point in the singles to finish the week with three points for GB&I.
Perhaps the most interesting perspective comes from Michael looking back on the tournament now.
At the time, he was a young amateur trying to establish himself.
Now, with a successful professional career behind him and years spent refereeing at the highest level, he can look back and understand just how valuable that experience was.
And ultimately, his advice to the current GB&I team is simple:
Do it as a team.
That's what Michael remembers most.
The team synergy.
The partnerships.
The pride of representing GB&I.
And the feeling of contributing to something bigger than yourself.

Listen back to previous PaddyTalks Golf episodes at:
www.paddytalksgolf.com

The PaddyTalks Golf Podcast is POWERED BY ForeGolf Custom.
For your own tour level custom fitting experience, visit www.foregolf.ie and book your fitting today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it actually take to prepare Lahinch for the Walker Cup?
For Episode 3 of the PaddyTalks Golf Walker Cup Series, I sit down with Brian McDonagh, Lahinch Golf Club Superintendent, to go behind the scenes of preparing one of Ireland's great links for one of the biggest events in amateur golf.
Brian has been looking after Lahinch since becoming Head Greenkeeper of the Old Course in 2006, and in this conversation he gives us a fascinating insight into how he sees the course differently from the golfers who play it.
From weather forecasts and tides to dew, sand, disease pressure and the condition of the greens, Brian explains what goes through his mind before the first golfer even arrives.

Listen back to previous PaddyTalks Golf episodes at:
www.paddytalksgolf.com

The PaddyTalks Golf Podcast is POWERED BY ForeGolf Custom.
For your own tour level custom fitting experience, visit www.foregolf.ie and book your tour level custom-fitting experience today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.