It took awhile, but the announcement was finally made on August 23 at the conclusion of the 115th U.S. Amateur championship at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. Denny McCarthy, of Rockville and Argyle CC, was among the final five players named to the U.S. Walker Cup squad. It had been a tough two weeks for McCarthy, who had to await the release concerning the last five places after he was not among the first five picked two weeks ago.
The biennial competition between teams from the United States and Great Britain/Ireland (GBI) will be held September 12-13at Royal Lytham St. Annes in Lancashire, England. The United States leads in the matches, begun in 1922, 35-8-1.
In making the announcement, the United States Golf Association said, “McCarthy, 22 [who recently graduated from the University of Virginia], was a three-time All-American at UVA and is the first Virginia player to be chosen All-Atlantic Coast Conference for four successive years.”
At a higher level, he finished tied for 42nd at the U.S. Open in June and earlier this month he won the highly regarded Porter Cup.
His 2014 accomplishments included an individual sixth at the NCAA championships, and featured outstanding play in leading the U.S. to the gold medal in the World Amateur Team championships in Japan. He finished fifth individually, and was the only American to have his score count in all four rounds, including a closing 64. He has played in seven consecutive U.S. Amateurs, reaching the semifinals in 2014 and the second round last week. He also qualified for two U.S. Juniors, advancing to the semifinals in one.
Closer to home, McCarthy’s latest accolade is the icing on the cake for a young man who has dominated the Middle Atlantic golf scene since 2006. During the past 10 years he has won at least one tournament every year with the exception of 2012, beginning with a 13-under Maryland State title when he was 13. Along the way, he collected first-place trophies in such fixtures as the Gorin Memorial and the Washington Metropolitan Schoolboy, the Bob Riley Junior Open, and two Middle Atlantic Juniors.
At the major level, he won two Maryland State Amateurs and two Maryland Opens, including the 2010 edition when, at 17 years, four months, he was the event’s youngest champion. In addition, he won back-to-back Maryland State Player of the Year honors.
With his selection, McCarthy becomes the eighth Washington-Baltimore area resident to achieve “Cup” status. He joins a distinguished group, headed by four-time choice Deane Beman, who played in the 1959-61-63-65 Matches, and Roland MacKenzie, who played in 1926-28-30. George Voigt played in 1930-32; Billy Howell in 1932; Doug Ballenger in 1973; Marty West, III, in 1973-79, and Billy Hurley, III, 2005.
