AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Men’s Golf juniors Pierceson Coody and Cole Hammer were two of 10 players named to the 2021 United State Walker Cup Team, the United States Golf Association’s (USGA) International Team Selection working group announced Monday. Hammer is one of two returning players from the 2019 U.S. squad that defeated Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I), 15.5-10.5, at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.
Coody, a Plano, Texas native, is a two-time All-American (2019 honorable mention; 2020 first team) and champion of the 118th Western Amateur last August. In 2019, Coody advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2. He also posted a two-stroke victory in the 116th Trans-Mississippi Amateur at Maridoe Golf Club in his home state, joining a list of champions that includes Jack Nicklaus, Longhorn Legend Ben Crenshaw and Bryson DeChambeau. Coody was a member of the 2020 USA Arnold Palmer Cup Team.
Hammer, a Houston native, was a first-team All-American at Texas in 2019 and helped the United States claim victory at the Walker Cup in that same year. He has competed in 12 USGA championships including two U.S. Opens, and advanced to the semifinals in both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur in 2018. Hammer won the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Garrett Barber and was the third-youngest player to compete in an U.S. Open when he played at Chambers Bay at age 15 in 2015. In 2018, Hammer won the Western Amateur and helped the United States to a second-place finish in the World Amateur Team Championship. He won the South Beach International Amateur back in December and tied for second at the Jones Cup Invitational in February.
The Walker Cup is a biennial amateur team competition between the USA and a team composed of players from Great Britain and Ireland, selected by The R&A. The match is played over two days with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes (alternate-shot) matches. The USA leads the overall series that begin in 1922, 37-9-1, but it has been extremely competition over the last three decades. The USA holds just a 9-7 advantage since 1989.