Bud Cauley Named to Walker Cup
8/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 10, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama sophomore Bud Cauley became just the second player in school history to be selected to represent the United States in the Walker Cup Matches the United States Golf Association announced on Sunday.
Cauley joins former Tide great Jerry Pate (1974) as the only two Alabama golfers selected to the team. Cauley is one of eight amateurs named to the team on Sunday along with Rickey Fowler, Brendan Gielow, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Smith and Drew Weaver. The USGA will announce the final two spots on the 10-man team following the U.S. Amateur on August 24-30.
"I'm really excited about the chance to play in the Walker Cup and honored to be selected," Cauley said. "I have always been very patriotic, so the opportunity to represent my country again means a lot to me. The USGA called me on Saturday night to let me know I had been selected and it was an amazing feeling. You can accomplish a lot by working hard, playing well and winning some tournaments, and I have been able to do a little of that, which is very humbling."
The prestigious event will be held Sept. 12-13 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., which hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2005 and is a four-time host of the U.S. Open. The American's 10 amateurs will competed against a group of 10 amateurs representing Great Britain and Ireland.
Cauley led the Crimson Tide as a freshman during the 2008-09 season with a 72.13 stroke average, which is the sixth-best mark in school history. Cauley won the U.S. Collegiate Championship and posted five top-five finishes. He was a first-team Golfweek All-American, a member of the All-Nicklaus Team, a first-team All-SEC choice, a semifinalist for the Hogan Award, the SEC Freshman of the Year and a member of the Palmer Cup Team.
"It is the highest honor you can get in amateur golf and we are very proud of Bud for what he has accomplished," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "He is just the second Alabama player in school history to be selected for the team, and it will be exciting to watch him represent both the University of Alabama and the United States come September."
Cauley joins Oklahoma State's Morgan Hoffmann as the youngest members of the team at just 19 years of age. Cauley qualified for his second U.S. Amateur earlier this month and will compete at the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the end of the month. Joining Cauley at the U.S. Amateur will be teammates Hunter Hamrick and Scott Strohmeyer, along with recently departed senior and four-time letterman Matthew Swan.
The biennial Walker Cup Match consists of 16 singles matches and eight foursome matches. The United States has won the last two matches and leads the series overall, 33-7-1.
Cauley and his Crimson Tide teammates have also been very successful on the summer amateur circuit. Cauley won the prestigious Players Amateur, finished ninth at the Northeast Amateur and was knocked out in the semifinals of the Western Amateur.
Strohmeyer, a redshirt freshman from Auburn, Ala., just captured the Alabama State Match Play Championships this past week at the Dothan Country Club in Dothan, Ala. His teammate Hunter Slatton of Tuscaloosa also advanced to the round of 16.
Hamrick, a sophomore from Montgomery, Ala., also captured the 93rd Alabama Amateur Championship earlier this summer with a 5-under-par 282 at the Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.
Players Mentioned
