Musings from the Jar
August 2023
The 49th Walker Cup: The Barclays
Words by Darragh Garrahy. Barclay Brown will tee it up for GB&I in the Walker Cup at St. Andrews in early September, aged twenty two. In the 2021 iteration at Seminole, his trademark bucket hat had an R&A logo on it in Juno Beach – he wore a camo bucket en-route to a 68 at The Open on Thursday at St. Andrews last year). The atypical headwear is where the non-traditional motif stops for Brown – he is a classic ballstriker, good enough to qualify for this year’s US Open at George Thomas’ LACC (Thomas also designed the course at Stanford where Brown studies Economics). Barclay Brown in camouflage at The Open at St. Andrews, 2022 The last time another Barclay entered the Walker Cup fray was in 1997 – Barclay Howard. Unlike Barclay Brown, he did not attend Stanford; his education growing up outside Glasgow was more [...]
R&A Confirm Selection of 2023 GB&I Walker Cup Team
Following the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur Championship and the Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships at Fulford and Ganton, the R&A have confirmed the eight remaining players to make up the GB&I squad for St Andrews. The R&A's announcement can be seen here. James Ashfield (22) – Wales, WAGR: 71st Wales’ highest-ranked player, winner of the 2022 Welsh Amateur Championship. 2nd place finishes in this year’s Lytham Trophy and European Amateur Championship. Strong performance in the recent Home Internationals at Machynys Peninsula. Loves matchplay. Jack Bigham (19) – England, WAGR: 88th Another player to perform well with a 4th place finish at the European Amateur Championship in Estonia at the end of June. Plays his college golf for Florida State and has a very consistent record. A 12th place finish at this year’s Links Trophy shows he knows how to plot his way around St Andrews, too. Connor Graham (17) [...]
Blades Brown: 16-Year-Old Medallist and The Walker Cup Radar
After the 36-hole Strokeplay stage of the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, 16-year-old middle-schooler Blades Brown has earned himself the Medallist/Co-Medallist title. With rounds of 72 and 64 at Cherry Hills Country Club and Colorado Golf Club respectively, he is the youngest stroke-play leader of the event since Bobby Jones in 1920. Jones was 18 at the time. Whilst not quite the youngest player in the field, this Nashville teenager has caught the attention of golf fans around the world. With a name that will make the GolfWRX forums go wild, it would be great to see him kick on this week. The quality of youth has been on full show over the first two days, with Bowen Mauss and Preston Stout as two other 16-year-olds to also make it to the knockout stages from a staggeringly large field of 312. Both players carded 7-under rounds of 65 at Colorado. The [...]
Sounder x Cookie Jar Retro Golf Day at West Byfleet Golf Club
West Byfleet Golf Club - Thursday 19th October & Equipment Amnesty to Uganda Limited Places Available We're back for the second edition of the Cookie Jar Retro Day. After such a great day at Minchinhampton in June, with persimmons, blades, hickories and some glorious retro threads on display, we're excited to announce we'll be hosting another at West Byfleet Golf Club on the 19th October. This time aroud, we've teamed up with James Day and the guys over at Sounder Golf! Our events are always a lot of fun, and this will be a feast of nostalgic golf kit at one of the most underrated courses we've visited. This classic Abercromby layout, full of character and charm will provide the perfect setting for you to once again dust off your sets and enjoy a day of camaraderie and golf. We're delighted to also be running an equipment amnesty to [...]
A Tap on the Shoulder: Golf’s Weekend Markers
For the vast majority of golfers, the prospect of teeing it up at a major is a thought only in the world of fantasy. Yet, for top-level amateurs and club pros it is a possibility that can quickly become reality. Ahead of Walton Heath, pre-qualifying was held in July at The Buckinghamshire before final qualifying took place at Hankley Common on Monday. Anyone with a handicap of 0.4 or less can enter, meaning you’re actually just two fantastic rounds away from getting in. However, there is a different, rather unique way you can tee it up in a major. This only happens now and again and has often gone under the radar. Yesterday, Nicola Taylor, member at Walton Heath and Captain of the Surrey County team, received the invitation to play in the AIG Women’s Open as a marker for Moriya Jutanugarn from Thailand. Teeing off in the [...]
Ewing’s Runaway: Heading into the Weekend at Walton Heath
With 36 holes remaining, Ally Ewing (née McDonald), the 30-year old Mississippian holds a handsome margin that looks hard to bridge. As play commenced on Friday, 59 players started at even par or better and were within four shots of Ally Ewing’s opening 68. However, the American seized control and flew out of the blocks on a sunny Surrey Friday, surging into an extremely commanding position. Five birdies on the outward nine, which is certainly the more challenging of the two this week, was exceptional play to put her seven clear at one point. (Photo by Chloe Knott/R&A/R&A via Getty Images) She was clearly right in the zone, in an almost trance-like state, noting in her post-round interview: “I didn't really even know until I signed my scorecard that I had four birdies in a row, so I would probably say that stretch from like 6 to 11 [...]
AIG Women’s Open: Heaven or Heather
As anticipation builds for the opening tee shot of the 2023 AIG Women’s Open to be hit at 06.30 tomorrow by Englishwoman Mel Reid, much has been made of how long the course has been playing during the practice days. On Tuesday, the course endured some torrential rain, and the site is noticeably soft in certain areas. Naturally, you would assume that such conditions would play right into the hands of the longer hitters on the LPGA and LET Tours. However, the picture doesn’t seem that clear. Speaking today in her press conference, Nelly Korda raised an interesting point about such conditions actually favouring the shorter hitters. She said: “I feel like every single time I've talked about maybe having an advantage because of length at golf course, you actually kind of see more of the shorter hitters playing well… I mean, they are used to hitting hybrids into the [...]
5 Things I Didn’t Know About Walton Heath
On Thursday, the world's best will descend on Walton-on-the-Hill for the 2023 instalment of The AIG Women’s Open where Ashleigh Buhai will be defending her crown, having won at Muirfield last year in a nail biting - albeit slow paced - playoff. The event is also throwing in some extra special touches: an Ellie Goulding concert on Saturday night and a reimagined fan experience. In anticipation I took to the comprehensive book about the clubs’ founding architect - Herbert Fowler, ‘Matter of Course’ by Derek Markham ably supported by revered golf historian Philip Truett - to try and learn a bit more about Walton Heath, and Fowler as a person. Here are 5 things I did not know: 1. Cosmo Bonsor was the man behind the development. A member of British high society, millionaire by virtue of the brewing industry, a member of parliament, director of the Bank of England [...]
Prestige, Potential & Porthcawl: A Dream Venue for The Open?
Words by Charlie In my opinion, last week’s Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl was the most entertaining tournament to be broadcast this year. It had everything. Perhaps I am biased: I love links golf, I love Royal Porthcawl, and I love watching the world’s best tackle conditions akin to the Winter Medal. There’s also something just very amusing about watching Padraig Harrington try to negotiate the complications of a beanie hat. (Image: Richard Martin-Roberts/Getty Images) However, juxtaposed against the sunshine and cocktails being enjoyed across the pond at TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open, the battle on the Bristol Channel offered golf fans a far more relatable and compelling product. Nor should The Senior Open be pigeonholed by the biblical weather endured over the weekend. The wind blew on the first two days, but it was certainly not brutal the entire week. Thursday and Friday saw 30 [...]
July 2023
The Cookie Jar 12v12: Gleneagles 2023
The Cookie Jar 12 v 12 Gleneagles (Queens & Kings) Monday 4th September 36 Hole Foursomes/Fourball Match In the spirit of amateurism, Cookie Jar Golf is delighted to announce we are hosting our very own 12v12 in the style of the Walker Cup on the 4th September. On the Monday succeeding the conclusion of the 49th Walker Cup at St Andrews, we are heading to Gleneagles for 36 holes of team matchplay. We've been hoping to do a Walker Cup event for some time and now we have it for you. We will be having matches of Morning Foursomes and Afternoon Fourballs contested between two teams of 12 on the Queens and Kings courses. We'll stop for a midday interval to enjoy some much needed lubrication and Gleneagles' famous curry. It will be a day for competitive, yet sociable matchplay, with brunch, cocktails and live entertainment in the evening. [...]
