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Met Area ties at the Walker Cup

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (May 6, 2021) -- The 48th Walker Cup Match takes place this weekend at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., where former MGA Player of the Year Stewart Hagestad and Scotch Plains, N.J., native John Pak will represent the U.S. team once again.

Related: Walker Cup Home | Golf Channel feature on Hagestad

Hagestad, whose 2016 Met Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur titles led him to earn MGA Player of the Year honors for 2016, is making his third Walker Cup appearance, following U.S. victories in 2017 at Los Angeles Country Club and 2019 at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake). The Newport Beach, Calif., native, who resided in New York City for several years, has compiled a 3-2 record in his previous two showings.

Pak currently stands as the No. 4 ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and is currently completing his senior season at Florida State where he's tied first for the school's all-time wins record with eight. Pak went 3-0 at Royal Liverpool to help the U.S. team to it's five point victory. Last fall at Winged Foot, Pak used his past Carter Cup experience at Winged Foot to finish as low amateur in the U.S. Open, where he finished T-51st.

Hagestad and Pak aren't the only ties to the Met Area for this year's Walker Cup, as Seminole president and the Met Area's Jimmy Dunne was instrumental in bringing the matches to the outstanding Donald Ross layout. While the seed was initially planted in his mind when he first attended the 2005 Walker Cup Match at Chicago Golf Club, the real discussions for Seminole to host the event developed during the 2013 Walker Cup at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y. It became official when the USGA announced the site as host in December 2016.

Related: A Perfect Fit: Seminole Returns to Stage as Walker Cup Host

Following Friday evening's opening ceremony, play begins Saturday morning with four foursomes matches beginning at 8:20 a.m. Eight singles matches follow in the afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. Foursomes matches once again begin Sunday's play at 8:20 a.m., while 10 singles matches tee off at 2:05 p.m. in the final session. One full point is awarded for each victory, while a half-point is earned for matches that are all square after 18 holes. The USA needs 13 points to retain the Cup, while GB&I requires 13.5 points to reclaim it.

The U.S. leads the series, 37-9-1 all time.

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