Golf is an individual sport. We take our equipment, tee the ball up and play. Granted we are in the company of others on most occasions, but the reality is it’s a contest between us and the course. Every so often, we are presented with an opportunity to play a little team golf. A great example of this type of golf was on display this past weekend during the Walker Cup matches. A biennial team match between the United States and Great Britain/Ireland. Each team is composed of ten young amateur players.
Even though we’ve discussed being a great golf teammate before on PGA.com, a true team competition like the Walker Cup brings about an increased level of partner pressure.
As the match unfolded this past weekend, it was interesting to observe how the different players came together. After all, each member of the USA competes against one another every other week. How do golfers successfully unite toward a common cause? It seems simple, just play good together, but as we have all seen in several Ryder Cup and Walker Cup matches what’s on paper seldom is used for a script.