Walker Cup: 2015 Great Britain and Ireland team

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Ashley Chesters, 26, of Hawkstone Park, England: Chesters is the lone mid-amateur on the GB&I Walker Cup Team. He tied for 12th in the 2015 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, at St. Andrews (Old Course) with a 72-hole score of 9-under-par 270. He also played in the previous year’s Open Championship, but missed the cut at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake, England. Chesters became the first English player to win the European Amateur in 2013 and successfully defended his title the following year. In 2015, he was runner-up in the Welsh Stroke Play Championship, reached the Spanish International Amateur semifinals, tied for seventh in the Brabazon Trophy English Open, and advanced to the Round of 16 in the British Amateur at Carnoustie in Scotland. He won the 2014 Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy and helped England finish sixth at the World Amateur Team Championship in Japan. His father, Nigel, competed against Sandy Lyle, a two-time major professional champion, during their junior years.

Paul Dunne, 22, of Greystones, Republic of Ireland: Dunne shot a third-round 66 on the Old Course at St. Andrews to share the 54-hole lead of the 2015 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, and finished in a tie for 30th. He became the first amateur since Bob Jones in 1927 to share the 54-hole lead. He also played in the 2014 Open Championship, but missed the cut at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake). In 2015, Dunne tied for ninth in the Brabazon Trophy English Open and helped the Irish to a fifth-place finish in the European Amateur Team Championship. A recent graduate of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Dunne was fifth in the 2015 NCAA Division I Championship and earned All-America and All-Conference USA recognition for the second consecutive year. Dunne received a special exemption from qualifying to play in the 2015 U.S. Amateur, his first USGA championship. He advanced to the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Bryson DeChambeau. Dunne played for the victorious European team in the 2014 Palmer Cup. His Irish team finished 11th at the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship and he shot 13-under 275.

Ewen Ferguson, 19, of Bearsden, Scotland: Ferguson helped Scotland win the 2015 European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden. He won the Scottish Champion of Champions by shooting all four rounds in the 60s (13-under 271) for a three-stroke victory. He tied for third in this year’s Irish Amateur Open Championship with a 72-hole score of even-par 288. Ferguson also reached match play in the British Amateur, tied for fourth in the Scottish Stroke Play and tied for 11th in the Brabazon Trophy English Open. Ferguson defeated Germany’s Michael Hirmer, 10 and 9, to win the 2013 British Boys Amateur Championship and advanced to the semifinals in defense of his title the following year. In 2014, Ferguson won the Scottish Boys Match Play and Scottish Boys Stroke Play and along with his victory in the British Boys Amateur, became the first player to hold those three titles at one time. He was a member of the victorious GB&I squad in the 2014 Jacques Leglise Trophy. He helped Scotland finish third at the 2014 European Boys Team Championship in Norway. Ferguson was initially the first alternate and replaced Sam Horsfield, who withdrew from the GB&I Team on Aug. 31.

Grant Forrest, 22, of Craigielaw, Scotland: Forrest was the runner-up to Romain Langasque, of France, in the 2015 Amateur Championship at Carnoustie in Scotland. He recently graduated from the University of San Diego, where he was the 2014 West Coast Conference Player of the Year, 2013 WCC tournament champion and 2012 WCC Freshman of the Year. This year’s U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club was his first USGA championship appearance. Forrest won five of a possible six match-play points in leading Scotland to the 2015 European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden. He helped Scotland finish ninth at the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Japan. He won a pair of singles matches for the victorious 2014 European Palmer Cup Team. Forrest, who qualified for the 2013 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, won the 2012 Scottish Amateur. He upended Richard Docherty, 9 and 7, in the final, the largest margin of victory in 25 years. Forrest won the 2014 St. Andrews Links Trophy by defeating Bradley Neil on the first playoff hole with a 25-foot birdie putt.

Jack Hume, 21, of Naas, Republic of Ireland: Hume tied for third in the Brabazon Trophy English Open with a 72-hole score of 284 (73-71-69-71) and tied for sixth in the St. Andrews Links Trophy with a 54-hole score of 217 (70-76-71). He helped Ireland win the Home Internationals on Aug. 14 with a singles victory in a 91Ž2-51Ž2 decision over Wales. He tied for 19th in the 2015 European Amateur in Slovakia with a total of 13-under-par 275 and tied for 20th in this year’s Irish Amateur Open Championship. Hume reached match play in the 2015 Amateur Championship at Carnoustie and was a Spanish International Amateur quarterfinalist. He tied for second in the 2014 Scottish Stroke Play Championship with a final-round 66.

Gary Hurley, 22, of West Waterford, Republic of Ireland: Hurley was the runner-up for the second consecutive year in the European Amateur Championship. He finished one stroke behind Italy’s Steffano Mazzoli with a four-round total of 18-under 270. He was also second in the 2015 Spanish International Amateur, losing to Jeroen Krietemeijer, of the Netherlands, in the final, and was third in the Southern Cross Invitational in Argentina. He has represented Europe twice in the Palmer Cup and was a member of the winning team in 2014. He shot rounds of 69-68-74-70 in the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship as Ireland finished 11th in Japan. Hurley is an R&A Foundation Scholar at Maynooth University.

Jack McDonald, 22, of Kilmarnock (Barassie), Scotland: McDonald advanced to the semifinals of the Amateur Championship for the second time in three years. He was defeated by eventual champion Romain Langasque, of France, in 19 holes at Carnoustie. He won five of a possible six points in match play in helping Scotland claim the 2015 European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden. In 2015, he tied for ninth in the Scottish Stroke Play Championship with a 72-hole score of 2-over 286. He was also 11th in the Irish Amateur Open, tied for 13th in the Lytham Trophy and tied for 14th in the St. Andrews Links Trophy. McDonald was a member of the victorious 2014 European Palmer Cup Team. He was chosen 2012 Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year when he helped Scotland win the Home Internationals. McDonald, the grandson of 1965 GB&I Walker Cup Team member Gordon Cosh, attends the University of Stirling and is an R&A Foundation Scholar.

Gavin Moynihan, 20, of The Island, Republic of Ireland: Moynihan is the lone holdover from the 2013 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup Team and posted a 2-2 record, including a singles victory over Patrick Rodgers, at the National Golf Links of America. He won this year’s Irish Amateur Open Championship for the second time with a 72-hole score of 4-under 284, three strokes ahead of GB&I Walker Cup teammate Cormac Sharvin. He was runner-up to Sharvin in this year’s Brabazon Trophy English Open and finished third in the 2015 European Amateur in Slovakia with a four-round total of 271 (17 under). He helped Ireland win the Home Internationals on Aug. 14. Moynihan, who briefly attended the University of Alabama, won the 2014 Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship, shooting a final-round 67 for a two-stroke victory.

Jimmy Mullen, 21, of Royal North Devon, England: Mullen made the 36-hole cut in the 2013 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, finishing in a for 75th at Muirfield. He and 2013 U.S. Amateur champion Matthew Fitzpatrick were the only amateurs to play on the weekend. Mullen advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2014 U.S. Amateur Championship before losing to Frederick Wedel, 2 and 1, at Atlanta Athletic Club. In 2015, he won the Welsh Open Stroke Play Championship by nine strokes with a four-round total of 273 (15-under). He helped England place fourth in the 2015 European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden and represented his country in the Home Internationals. He tied for third in the Duncan Putter, tied for 19th in the Lytham Trophy and tied for 21st in the St. Andrews Links Trophy.

Cormac Sharvin, 22, of Ardglass, Northern Ireland: Sharvin captured the 2015 Brabazon Trophy English Open with a 72-hole score of 7-under-par 281, just ahead of GB&I Walker Cup teammate Gavin Moynihan. He became the first Irishman to win the Brabazon Trophy since Rory McIlroy in 2006. Sharvin was runner-up to Moynihan in the Irish Amateur Open Championship and tied for second in the Lytham Trophy. Sharvin was third in the Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship with a four-round total of 280 (4 under). He played in the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, his first USGA championship. He represented Ireland in the 2015 European Amateur Team Championship in Sweden. Sharvin attends Stirling University and is an R&A Foundation Scholar.

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