Walker Cup: There are many quaint and, some would dare to suggest, rather outdated traditions that have managed to survive at Ganton Golf Club, one of which is that men are required to wear collar and tie in the clubhouse.
On a normal day, anyone not meeting the dress code may only acquire soup and sandwiches or whatever through a window that leads to the back veranda.
In many ways, for a place persisting with such customs, this piece of Yorkshire heath land - where the turf bears many of the characteristics of links and boasts yawning masses of gorse - would seem an unlikely battleground. But that is what beckons as the 39th Walker Cup match between Britain and Ireland and the United States gets under way today with the home side chasing golfing history, and the visitors smarting from more than the mere fact that the cup is not theirs.
As we've discovered down the years, in golf, what the United States don't hold, they want; and this piece of silverware has been out of their grasp, as they perceive it, for too long.
Despite the USA's historical dominance (31 wins, one drawn, six lost), on the past two occasions the match was played, B&I have won - at Nairn, Scotland in 1999 and Sea Island, Georgia in 2001 - and, so, for the first time in their history, they have a chance to make it a hat-trick.
"If I'm captain of the winning team, it would be just awesome," insisted Garth McGimpsey, a three-time Walker Cup player who has assumed the captaincy. "It might even feel better than actually playing, because it is now."
Unusually, too, the Britain and Ireland team go into the two-day encounter as favourites, not only because of home advantage but also because the Americans have had a number of high-profile defections to the professional ranks. Not that the US captain, Bob Lewis, sees it entirely that way. "Give it your heart and soul, and play hard," was the message from Lewis to his team, which, despite a divergence in age that sees an 18-year-old (Casey Wittenberg) line up alongside a 50-year-old (George Zahringer), has "bonded very well," he claimed.
McGimpsey has shown his faith in Ireland's two representatives, Colm Moriarty of Athlone and Portmarnock's Noel Fox, by including them in both the morning's foursomes - where they partner each other against Wittenbergand Adam Rubinson - and the afternoon singles. Moriarty plays Chris Nallen, while Fox will renew rivalry with Rubinson.
Given that it will be Moriarty's swan-song to amateur golf, he couldn't have picked a tougher environment. Fox, meanwhile, intends to stay on for next week's Irish Cups and Shields Finals and the following week's Home Internationals before venturing towards a possible life as a professional.
McGimpsey's task as captain, though, has been to keep his men in the present. To that end, he has been thankful for the assistance of Peter McEvoy, the chairman of selectors, who was captain for the previous two wins. "I'm happy he's on board. Someone called it the McEvoy effect that that it scares the Americans, so I don't mind . . . (but) the players know I am the captain and they're doing what I tell them."
Fox has been impressed by McGimpsey. "He's very good," said Fox. "He won't blame us for playing poor shots, but he will blame us for silly shots."
A little edge has been added to the occasion by the pre-match observations of Gary Wolstenholme, who riled some American players with his comments in a newspaper article last Sunday. "I intend to be a model of decorum and I'm sure no one on either team will do anything untoward," claimed Wolstenholme.
Yet, it seemed a touch ironic that the draw should see him paired in the opening foursomes with Michael Skelton against Bill Haas, the son of US Tour player Jay, and Trip Kuehne, the man who swapped his shirt with Padraig Harrington in 1995 but who said he would not repeat the gesture with Wolsthenholme this time round. Indeed, in this most pure form of amateur golf, a little needle might not be a bad thing at all.
FOURSOMES (British and Irish names first): 8.00 - G Wolstenholme/M Skelton v Bill Haas/T Kuehne. 8.15 - S Wilson/D Inglis v L Williams/G Zahringer. 8.30 - N Edwards/S Manley v C Nallen/R Moore. 8.45 - N Fox/C Moriarty v A Rubinson/C Wittenberg. SINGLES: 12.50 - Wolstenholme v Haas. 1.0 - O Wilson v T Kuehne. 1.10 - Inglis v B Mackenzie. 1.20 - S Wilson v M Hendrix. 1.35 - Edwards v Zahringer. 1.45 - Moriarty v Nallen. 1.55 - Fox v Rubinson. 2.05 - Gordon v Wittenberg.
