Wolstenholme hails 'phenomenal' teen stars
Gary Wolstenholme has tipped Walker Cup team-mates Oliver Fisher and Lloyd Saltman for bright futures in the professional game – and he believes they might leave the amateur ranks before long.
However the veteran English amateur hopes both play on as amateurs for at least another two years, to make themselves available in 2007 when Great Britain & Ireland look to win back the Walker Cup at Royal County Down.
Fisher, 16, became the youngest ever player to compete in the biennial event at the Chicago Golf Club over the weekend, and Wolstenholme was impressed by both he and 19-year-old Saltman.
Their weekend ended in disappointment as the US edged out Garth McGimpsey’s men by 12 1/2 points to 11 1/2, to end British and Irish hopes of a fourth successive victory.
But Wolstenholme said: “I watched Oliver and Lloyd walking down the course together on Sunday and everyone was applauding them.
“They both put their hands up and waved and I swear I could see them both doing that coming down the 18th in the US Open. These are two phenomenal players.
“Whether they will be in the amateur game in two years, I don’t know. But I hope they are.
“If we had those two in the side again then that would be a very special team.
“For a successful team you need guys that are going to be leaders and these two are leaders, even at their young age.”
Wolstenholme became Great Britain & Ireland’s record points-scorer in the Walker Cup after his singles win on Sunday.
Fisher, meanwhile, blossomed as the event drew to a frantic conclusion.
The Chigwell youngster squeezed a half point out of his closing singles duel with Michael Putnam, the number one player on the US college circuit, after he rolled in an 18-foot putt for birdie on the final green.
That kept hopes of retaining the trophy alive, but American Jeff Overton maintained his one-hole advantage over Welshman Nigel Edwards in the day’s very last tie to gain the point the US needed for a slender victory.
Fisher nevertheless remained upbeat and set his sights on returning to the Walker Cup fold in 2007.
“I love the idea of coming back to play in this,” he added.
“It’s really, really good fun. We had a great team. All the guys were good to be with all the time. It’s made me want to come back in two years’ time and play.”
While Fisher reflected on what might have been, jubilant US captain Bob Lewis hailed his side’s spirit and insisted that American players can compete together as a team.
Three successive Walker Cup defeats, allied with consecutive Ryder Cup losses to Europe in the professional game, have prompted suggestions that US players are lacking in the psyche to play well as a team.
But Lewis insists his squad’s victory in Chicago could signal an upturn in fortunes for US sides.
“I just think that American golf is back,” he said.
“Maybe the tide is starting to turn again. Players are sticking around to play and staying together and not thinking about themselves all the time.
“I’m hoping that this will develop over the next few years and we’ll turn it around again.”
Overton, whose victory over Edwards sealed the US’s first Walker Cup triumph since 1997, also hailed the American spirit and added: “In golf, it’s hard not to be self-centred and arrogant.
“But this team loved each other and we would die together.”
