Everything You Need to Know for the 2025 Walker Cup at Cypress Point

For any golf sicko, one event jumped out when glancing at the golf calendar for 2025: the 50th Walker Cup at Cypress Point. The biennial competition pits the top male amateur golfers from the United States against the best from Great Britain and Ireland over two days of team match play this year at arguably America’s most iconic golf course.

The Format

The event features 10 players on each team and two days of match play. On Saturday there will be a morning session with four matches of foursomes (alternate shot) followed by eight afternoon singles matches. Sunday will feature another morning of four foursomes matches, but the final session will include all ten players from each side squaring off in singles matches.

Each session has a TV window with the mornings on Peacock from 12:30-3:30 p.m. EDT and the afternoon sessions on Golf Channel from 7-10 p.m. EDT. This is premier cocktail golf for those on the East Coast.

Recent History

The United States has dominated the Walker Cup in recent years, winning eight of the past ten competitions, including the last four. This year, they will enter as heavy favorites, boasting seven of the top-ten players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, including Nos. 1-6. The past two editions have seen a feisty GB&I team who have made it interesting on Sunday, and this year’s team is likely the strongest in recent memory.

The Course

You can bat around what the best course in the world is, but for my money, Cypress Point is the most pleasant place to play a round. It’s hard to imagine a course you’d rather play due to its journey through epic sand dunes, into the Monterey forest, and back through sand dunes until you reach the coast for the greatest three-hole stretch (Nos. 15-17) in all of golf.

The Alister MacKenzie design will play short for the best amateurs in the world. Measuring just a tick over 6,600 yards, Cypress Point will feature a handful of short par 4s, which should be an interesting watch for match play to see how aggressive each team plays. The course will be exceptionally firm, and leaving shorter approach shots to heavily pitched greens could backfire with certain pin positions. With the TV windows situated at the end of each session, here are a handful of holes to watch over the final two-thirds of the course. And if you want more Cypress Point, check out our in-depth video on the golf course here.

No. 9, par 4, 289 yards

Maybe the best short four in the world. The hole sits on a dune ridge and plays to a shallow, angled green. Going for the green can yield easy birdies but the surrounds are fraught with danger.

No. 15, par 3, 137 yards

An iconic short par 3 filled with intriguing hole locations. This hole gets particularly interesting if the wind is blowing as it becomes difficult to control distances on the exposed coastline.

No. 16, par 3, 233 yards

A par 3 unlike any other in golf that plays over a bay on the Pacific Ocean to a peninsula green. If the wind blows into players with some veracity, you will see fairway woods pulled.

No. 17, par 4, 345 yards

Playing along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, this hole will likely be moved up at least once and turned into a drivable par 4. When the tee is back, depending on wind direction, you should see a wide variety of strategies from trying to push past the centerline trees or laying back short of them.

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Players of Note

Jackson Koivun (USA) – The No. 1 player in the amateur game has already made a big splash on the PGA Tour (and already has a Tour card) this summer, notching a T-11, T-6, and T-5 in his last three professional starts. He will be the star of the stacked U.S. team. Expect to see a lot of him.

Ben James (USA) – Since James burst onto the collegiate scene he has been a mainstay atop the amateur game. This will be his second Walker Cup and he enters his senior year at Virginia off three first-team All-American selections.

Ethan Fang (USA) – The Oklahoma State junior has arguably had the strongest summer on the amateur circuit, winning the Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s and also medaling at the Western Amateur before losing in the final.

Preston Stout (USA) – Another member of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Stout has won the last two Big 12 Conference individual titles and also medaled at the U.S. Amateur.

Cameron Adam (GB&I) – The recent Northwestern grad is coming off a T-19 finish on the DP World Tour at the Betfred British Masters. A lefty, Adam will turn professional after the Walker Cup and has had a stellar amateur career with a victory at the 2023 Scottish Amateur as well as this year’s St. Andrews Links Trophy.

Tyler Weaver (GB&I) – The highest-ranked GB&I member at No. 10 in the WAGR, Weaver was this year’s ACC Freshman of the Year for Florida State.

Niall Shiels Donegan (GB&I) – The story of the 2025 U.S. Amateur will be the run from Scottish-born but Marin County resident Niall Shiels Donegan. The North Carolina Tar Heel mowed through a list of world-class players including GB&I teammate Luke Poulter, Texas star Christiaan Maas, and U.S. Walker Cuppers Preston Stout and Jacob Modleski before falling in the semis to Jackson Herrington. Donegan will likely see hometown support during his matches against the U.S. team.

Luke Poulter (GB&I) – The son of European Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter, the 21-year-old has ascended to 27th in the WAGR and starred on the Florida team that made match play at this year’s NCAA Championship.

I know this weekend is full of sporting options, including the start of the NFL season, but this should be a spectacle for those who love the game of golf. At the bare minimum be sure to set those DVRs and take in what will be one of the great golf events of our lifetime.