1979 Walker Cup Winner and Match Scores

The 1979 Walker Cup was the 27th time this competition took place. Following the United States victory, the all-time standings were 24 wins for Team USA, two wins for Team GB&I, one tie.

Final Score: United States 15.5, Great Britain & Ireland 8.5

Dates Played: May 30-31, 1979

Location: Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland

Team Captains: Dick Siderowf for the United States and Rodney Foster for Great Britain & Ireland

Team Rosters:

• USA — Doug Clarke, Doug Fischesser, Michael Gove, Scott Hoch, Jim Holtgrieve, Griff Moody III, Michael Peck, Jay Sigel, Hal Sutton, Marty West
• GB&I — Gordon Brand Jr., Allan Brodie, James Buckley, Iain Carslaw, John Davies, Geoffrey Godwin, Ian Hutcheon, Michael Kelley, Brian Marchbank, Peter McEvoy

Notes: The final margin of victory was seven points, but for three of the four sessions this was a close match: 14 of the 24 matches went to the 17th or 18th hole. And at one point in the final singles session, Team GB&I led five matches and trailed in just one. But Team USA wound up winning seven of those eight singles matches on Day 2 to produce the final result.

Scott Hoch lead Team USA with a perfect 4-0-0 record. In the Day 1 singles session, Hoch defeated James Buckley by a 9-and-7 score, still today the largest margin of victory in an 18-hole singles match in the Walker Cup. And the second largest? It happened in the same singles session: Doug Clarke of the USA beat John Davies by an 8-and-7 score.

One of the players on Team USA was Griff Moody. A year later, at the 1980 Curtis Cup, his sister Terri Moody was on Team USA. The Moodys became the second-ever brother-sister pair to play in the Walker and Curtis cups, after the Bonallacks, Michael and Sally, of Team GB&I.

1979 Walker Cup Results

Day 1

Foursomes

• Scott Hoch/Jay Sigel, USA, def. Peter McEvoy/Brian Marchbank, GB&I, 1-up
• Geoffrey Godwin/Ian Hutcheon, GB&I, def. Marty West/Hal Sutton, USA, 2-up
• Doug Fischesser/Jim Holtgrieve, USA, def. Gordon Brand Jr./Michael Kelley, GB&I, 1-up
• Allan Brodie/Iain Carslow, GB&I, def. Griff Moody/Mike Gove, USA, 2 and 1

Score after first session: GB&I 2, USA 2

Singles

• Peter McEvoy, GB&I, halved with Jay Sigel, USA
• Doug Clarke, USA, def. John Davies, GB&I, 8 and 7
• Jim Holtgrieve, USA, def. Ian Hutcheon, GB&I, 6 and 4
• Scott Hoch, USA, def. Jimmy Buckley, GB&I, 9 and 7
• Brian Marchbank, GB&I, def. Mike Peck, USA, 1-up
• Geoffrey Godwin, GB&I, def. Griff Moody, USA, 3 and 2
• Michael Kelley, GB&I, def. Doug Fischesser, USA, 3 and 2
• Mike Gove, USA, def. Allan Brodie, GB&I, 3 and 2

Score of second session: USA 4.5, GB&I 3.5
Cumulative score after two sessions: USA 6.5, GB&I 5.5

Day 2

Foursomes

• Scott Hoch/Jay Sigel, USA, def. Geoffrey Godwin/Gordon Brand Jr., GB&I, 4 and 3
• Michael Kelley/Ian Hutcheon, GB&I, halved with Marty West/Hal Sutton, USA
• Peter McEvoy/Brian Marchbank, GB&I, def. Doug Fischesser/Jim Holtgrieve, 2 and 1
• Iain Carslow/Allan Brodie, GB&I, halved with Doug Clarke/Mike Peck, USA

Score of third session: GB&I 2, USA 2
Cumulative score after three sessions: USA 8.5, GB&I 7.5

Singles

• Scott Hoch, USA, def. Peter McEvoy, GB&I, 3 and 1
• Doug Clarke, USA, def. Gordon Brand Jr., GB&I, 2 and 1
• Mike Gove, USA, def. Geoffrey Godwin, GB&I, 3 and 2
• Mike Peck, USA, def. Ian Hutcheon, GB&I, 2 and 1
• Allan Brodie, GB&I, def. Marty West, USA, 3 and 2
• Griff Moody, USA, def. Michael Kelley, GB&I, 3 and 2
• Hal Sutton, USA, def. Brian Marchbank, GB&I, 3 and 1
• Jay Sigel, USA, def. Iain Carslow, GB&I, 2 and 1

Score of fourth session: USA 7, GB&I 1
Overall and final score: USA 15.5, GB&I 8.5

Previous and next:
1977 Walker Cup | 1981 Walker Cup