Craig Watson to Captain Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team

Craig Watson has been appointed as Captain of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team that will face the USA at Los Angeles Country Club in 2017.

One of Scotland’s most successful amateur golfers, Watson succeeds Welshman Nigel Edwards, who led the GB&I team to a record 16 ½ – 9 ½ win in the 2015 match at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Watson will also captain the GB&I St Andrews Trophy team as they take on the Continent of Europe in the 2016 match at Prince’s Golf Club in Kent on 20 and 21 July.

Edwards, after captaining both the GB&I Walker Cup and St Andrews Trophy sides on three occasions, will join The R&A’s Men’s Selection Committee.

GB&I will be looking to defend the trophy at the 46th Walker Cup match in California in 2017 and achieve their first victory on American soil since 2001, when they secured a 15-9 win at Ocean Forest in Georgia.

The 49-year-old Watson won The Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s in 1997 with a 3&2 victory in the final over future Masters champion Trevor Immelman, from South Africa. He played in The Open that year at Royal Troon and the Masters Tournament in 1998.

“Playing in the Walker Cup team is one of my proudest moments in golf,” said Watson. “I still remember the nerve-wracking moment when I teed it up on the first tee in the afternoon singles on the first day but I settled down and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It is a privilege for me to take over the captaincy of the team and I have a hard act to follow as Nigel did a fantastic job.

“I am looking forward to getting started and to making sure we put out the strongest team we can next year in Los Angeles. It is a hugely exciting time for amateur golf and you only have to look at the performances of the amateurs in The Open at St Andrews last year to see how competitive the game is at the moment.”

The 2017 Walker Cup Match will be played on 9 and 10 September at Los Angeles Country Club in California.