Walker Cup Match puts Merion Golf Club in party mood

Merion Golf Club - normally a venerable bastion of the ruly, the kempt, the couth, and the sheveled - let down its hair yesterday for the 42d Walker Cup Match.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 golf fans surged over the East Course on 126 socially prestigious Main Line acres to watch a team of 10 American amateurs battle a team of 10 players from Britain and Ireland.

Fashion was in full retreat as the visiting spectators violated a host of club rules with their collarless shirts, cargo pants, and short shorts. There were cigarettes and cell phones, beer and hot dogs, loud cheering and appreciative applause. And there were long lines at the portable toilets.

Golf, observed Rick Ill, club president, is a great democrat - though not in those words. "We want to welcome everyone to Merion for what I know is going to be a great competition," he said.

What fans got for their $40 tickets was an intimate look at a major golf tournament and some of the best amateur players in the world. Spectators were standing as close as six feet away as golfers drove, chipped, and putted their way around the course.

"In many ways," said Steve Smith, a member of the club and the Walker Cup committee, "this is a much better deal than the Open will be. Then you'll have 5,000 people following Tiger Woods around, and you won't get near him." The U.S. Open will be played at Merion in 2013.

The major demarcation between members and yesterday's visitors was the imposing white, pillared Merion clubhouse, near the 14th tee. Polite but inflexible ushers stood at the entrance, turning away anyone without the correct pedigree. It was there at a Friday evening cocktail party that members, decked out in blue blazers with the club crest on the breast pocket, gathered at 6:30 to receive their European guests.

Within 15 minutes, the party throbbed. Old Walker Cup buddies reacquainted themselves with one another and with Jack Daniel, Johnnie Walker, and Jim Beam.

Evian and Perrier flowed like water. Women were present, but it was mostly guys. The locker-room tang of male acid and hoist-a-beer conviviality was everywhere.

A number of the members looked old enough to have been here for the 1971 U.S. Open, when Lee Trevino beat Jack Nicklaus in a playoff after tossing a rubber snake at him to ease the tension on the first tee. And a few could have been on hand when Ben Hogan fought back after injuries from a car crash a year earlier to capture the 1950 U.S. Open.

Much of the conversation centered on the weather - thunder, wind, and three inches of rain. Rod Day III, chairman of Merion's Walker Cup committee, raised his voice to be heard over a drumroll of rain on the green clubhouse awning. "Tomorrow will be a lot better. I guarantee it."

He was right. By the time the big gold-rimmed Rolex clock near the men's locker room passed 8 a.m. yesterday, the rain had turned to a mist, and by 10 a.m. the sun had put in a cameo appearance. The golf was on, and the crowds began streaming in. The skies were overcast the rest of the day, but it did not rain.

On the second floor of the clubhouse, under lock and key in the archives room, was the Walker Cup itself. It is named for George Herbert Walker, the great-grandfather of the previous U.S. president, grandfather and namesake of another, and president of the United States Golf Association when the series began. The cup is contested in odd-numbered years on alternating sides of the Atlantic.

The large sterling silver loving cup was purchased by Walker in 1920 from Tiffany & Co. of New York. And engraved: "The USGA International Challenge Trophy presented by George Herbert Walker, May 11, 1921." It will be taken from the archives tonight and presented to the winning team.

Ill, the club president, joked about the dress rules at Merion, where tradition is not merely upheld, it's bracketed and given a coefficient. "We're not trying to be snobs. We just believe that golf is a game worth preserving."

Ill stood near a plaque, placed in 1992, designating the club as a National Historic Landmark. "This site possesses national significance in communicating the history of the United States of America," it reads.

The heavy rain Friday forced the planned outdoor opening ceremony into a tent instead. After welcoming speeches and introductions, the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale sang the national anthems of Ireland, Britain, and the United States. The tent was packed, and many others stood at the doorway straining to hear the speeches and singing.

All week there was a stream of receptions, dinners, and other social affairs. Olin Belsinger, the Walker Cup committee member responsible for that aspect of the event, said: "This is the most unique tournament in golf. It's a social event as well as a golf competition. Basically, we have to entertain the world of amateur golf. The logistics - transportation, food, security - are imposing."

As part of the tradition, about 15 Merion members hosted small dinner parties for the international guests in their homes.

To see a photo gallery of the Walker Cup at Merion Golf Club, go to http://go.philly.com/walkercupEndText