Familiarity breeds content for Walker side

Impressionable young men, you'd feel, could be inclined to lose the run of themselves when, in the space of a week, they're invited to tea in Buckingham Palace and then have former US President George Bush for company at a gathering in Davis Love III's course side house here at Ocean Forest Golf Club, venue for the 42nd Walker Cup match which starts tomorrow.

If that suggests some rather spoilt amateur golfers, it shouldn't. Peter McEvoy, captain to the Britain and Ireland team that is seeking to successfully defend the trophy for the first time in the biennial match with the United States, knows how to keep their feet on the ground and their minds on the difficult task that lies ahead.

Indeed, McEvoy, and his American counterpart Danny Yates, are soul spirits when it comes to the role that the Walker Cup has to play in world golf. "The Ryder Cup has gone beyond golf," observed Yates, while McEvoy remarked: "There's a danger in being too pious, (but) there is a certain purity in amateur golf that inevitably can't be found in professional golf where there are so many vested interests.

"In the Walker Cup, two teams play against each other and all we're trying to do is beat each other's brains out. There's no pitching for venues, or a complicated qualifying process." So, everyone is agreed, there remains something special about the Walker Cup. "For any guys going to turn professional, it's the most special event. It's about business after this," said McEvoy.

Here, it's about building friendships, camaraderie and representing your country." However, with at least two of the Britain and Ireland team - Luke Donald, who reputedly has a $2 million contract lined up, and Nick Dougherty - expected to join the professional ranks after the Walker Cup, and a number of the American players also anticipated to do so, the usual post-Walker Cup exodus to the professional game will again take place. Which is now just a fact of golfing life. "The right time to turn pro is when you're ready, but there are 19, 20, 21 year olds here who are as good as anyone around and that is quite exciting for the Walker Cup. It sets higher standards and makes it more relevant," said McEvoy.

The two Irish players in this 10-man team aren't making that move just yet. Michael Hoey intends to stay amateur until after next year's US Masters, while Graeme McDowell has another year to finish before graduating from the University of Alabama.

Both Hoey and McDowell have settled in nicely in preparation for their debut Walker Cup appearances and McEvoy has prepared his team so they are not overtired by the time that the actual matches get under way. Four years ago, in Quaker Ridge, when the Americans won 18-6, there was a belief among the B&I players that they had been worked too hard in practice, that they felt drained by the time it came to play.

That hasn't happened this week. "You can over-prepare to the stage where players are sick of the sight of the place and you can also play a course too often so that all you can see is trouble," said McEvoy. Consequently, the visiting team arrived in Savannah on Saturday evening and played golf in the Hilton Head area before savouring Ocean Forest for the first time on Wednesday.

It's a course that has been moulded out of marshlands and dunes, but one of the first discoveries players made was the necessity to pack away the little bottle of "Swamp Buddy", a mosquito and bug repellent, in their bags.

"There's also a heat index of 110, so it will be demanding for everyone. My parents and a number of people from Shandon Park are coming over, and they are going to fry," said Hoey. "However, I'm very familiar with this type of course, having spent a year at Clemson, and having given myself two years to make this team, and achieving my target, I am just looking forward to the whole experience now."

On Wednesday evening, Love invited both teams to his house for tea - and the world number six gave Hoey, the British Amateur champion, some advice on how to play the course. "He told me a good way to play it was to try and put the ball on the front of the green all the time, because all the trouble is at the back," said Hoey, adding: "You need to play short of the pin, to try and leave yourself an uphill putt. A 40 foot uphill putt is almost better than an eight foot downhill one."

The familiarisation with the course has gone pretty much to plan, and the belief in the Britain and Ireland camp is that, despite the undoubted quality of the American team, they can create history by retaining the trophy (won in Nairn two years ago). "We've never retained it before, but I believe this is our best chance," insisted McEvoy.