Walker Cup Begins Saturday For Three Tar Heels

The 49^th Walker Cup, an amateur team competition held every two years between 10-man teams pitting the United States vs. Great Britain and Ireland, takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 2-3 at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
 
Three current North Carolina Tar Heels – graduate student Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio, fifth-year senior Dylan Menante of Carlsbad, Calif., and junior David Ford of Peachtree Corners, Ga., make up 30% of the U.S. roster. They are the sixth, seventh and eighth Tar Heels to represent the United States in Walker Cup competition.
 
Harvie Ward, the 1948 NCAA champion, went 6-0 in foursomes and singles matches in the 1953, 1955 and 1959 Walker Cups. Marty West competed in 1973 and 1979, Frank Fuhrer played in 1981, World Golf Hall of Famer Davis Love III went 2-0-1 in 1985 and Tom Scherrer was the most recent Tar Heel to make a Walker Cup lineup in 1991.
 
All three current Tar Heels have previously played for the U.S. in international competitions. Menante played in the Palmer Cup in 2021 and 2022, Greaser played in the World Amateur Team Championship in 2022 and the Palmer Cup this past June and Ford also helped the U.S. win the 2023 Palmer Cup in Ligonier, Pa.
 
“Having one guy on a Walker Cup team is rare and special,” says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. “To have three guys on the same team is exceptionally rare and amazing. But this is about David, Austin and Dylan and I’m so happy for them. They work so hard and have played excellent golf for a long time now and each of them wanted to play in the Walker Cup so badly. It means the world to them to play for Team USA and not just in any Walker Cup, but one at the home of golf, St. Andrews. Representing your country is one of the highest honors. This is an opportunity, privilege and experience that they will cherish for the rest of their lives and each guy will be fantastic representing the United States of America this weekend.”
 
Ford will also team with 2022 NCAA champion Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt and 2023 U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap of Alabama in October in this year’s World Amateur Team Championship in the United Arab Emirates.
 
Greaser was a finalist in the 2021 U.S. Amateur, won the 2022 NCAA Yale Regional and 2022 Western Amateur and is second all-time at UNC in scoring average. He made the cut in the 2022…