The list of potential GB&I Walker Cup captains is hardly what you’d call exhaustive.
In an ever-changing golfing environment, where professionalism often is the be all and end all, the career amateur is just about as old-fangled as the hand-cranked mangle.
“Are you saying they had nobody else to ask?,” said Stuart Wilson with a wry chuckle. He does have a point, mind you.
Wilson, one of Scotland’s finest career amateurs, was recently unveiled as the new GB&I captain for this year’s St Andrews Trophy and the 2021 Walker Cup.
Given his shimmering record, his reputation in the amateur scene and the respect his affable yet highly competitive demeanour commands, Wilson’s appointment was hardly one of the great surprises.
In recent years, there have been discussions in golfing circles about the prospect of former Walker Cup players who subsequently turned professional becoming a GB&I skipper.
That, of course, would open up a whole raft of decorated candidates, like Paul McGinley, Padraig Harrington, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Coltart or Colin Montgomerie.
It’s an intriguing, some may say fanciful, thought, but Wilson remains an open-minded kind of fellow.
“Choosing captains is something that could get harder going forward,” he conceded of the long-standing tradition of giving the role to true amateur golfers.
“How many of the guys who played in the Walker Cup in recent years have actually stayed amateur? They are virtually all professional.
“Career amateurs like Nigel Edwards has been a captain, Craig Watson has had his stint. Gary Wolstenholme was the obvious English choice but he turned pro when he reached 50 a few years ago.
“It [a professional captain] could be something for discussion going forward.”
READ MORE: John Mulgrew on those stolen golf balls
For the time being, though, Wilson, The Open silver-medal winner in 2004, is relishing the chance to lead GB&I over the next couple of years.
The former Amateur champion played in the Walker Cup back in 2003 at Ganton and helped GB&I to an unprecedented third successive win in the biennial bout.
In 2021, he will be hoping to stop the US winning three in a row. “It would be good to stop the US momentum but the history books tell us that won’t be easy,” said Wilson of a record which shows that GB&I have won just twice on US soil in the event’s history.
READ MORE: A decade of golfing moments from the 2010s
A Walker Cup win remains one of Wilson’s most cherished baubles. Even in these times when the turnover of players from amateur to pro churns on with the prolific efficiency of an industrial conveyor belt, the 42-year-old maintains the transatlantic tussle has lost none of its lustre.
“It still resonates,” he insisted. “You’ll not get many multiple Walker Cuppers these days as players don’t stay amateur very long now but they still appreciate how important the event is.
“You see former players who went on to have successful professional careers and played in Ryder Cups they still refer fondly to the Walker Cup days.”
The St Andrews Trophy against Europe, meanwhile, is first up this July. Wilson was on the GB&I side which thumped the Europeans in 2004 at Nairn and he pitched in with a singles win over an up-and-coming Martin Kaymer.
“I don’t think I’d beat him now,” said Wilson with a smile.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here