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    National Golf Links, Cypress Point, Seminole set to hold future Curtis and Walker Cups

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    National Golf Links, Seminole and Cypress Point are all set to host future Curtis Cup and Walker Cup matches.

    By Ryan Herrington
    February 28, 2026
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    As if joining the list of notable golfers who have competed in the Curtis Cup and Walker Cup wasn’t motivation enough, the USGA has just provided even more incentive for aspiring amateurs to play in those respective events. On Saturday at their Annual Meeting in New York, officials with the governing body announced three of America’s most storied golf clubs will host upcoming editions of the team matches between the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland.

    Here’s what’s in store:

    • National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y., has been named site of the 2040 Walker Cup. The C.B. Macdonald course hosted the inaugural match in 1922, then 91 years later was site of the 2013 edition. It comes in addition to hosting the Curtis Cup in 2030.

    • Cypress Point Club will hold the 2042 Curtis Cup and the 2048 Walker Cup. The Alister MacKenzie design in Pebble Beach, Calif., just came off an impressive showing as site of the 50th Walker Cup last September, the American side prevailing 17-9.

    • Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., will be the host for the 2046 Curtis Cup and 2052 Walker Cup. The Donald Ross layout previously held the Walker Cup in 2021.

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    National Golf Links of America
    Southampton, NY
    4.9
    23 Panelists
    This is where golf architect Seth Raynor got his start. A civil engineer by training, he surveyed holes for architect C.B. Macdonald, who scientifically designed National Golf Links as a fusion of his favorite features from grand old British golf holes. National Golf Links is a true links containing a marvelous collection of holes. As the 2013 Walker Cup reminded us, Macdonald’s versions are actually superior in strategy to the originals, which is why National’s design is still studied by golf architects today, its holes now replicated elsewhere. Hard to fathom that National Golf Links of America was not ranked among America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses from 1969 until 1985. Theories involve possible hazy, rough around the edges conditions during the 1970s that dulled the architcture (something that didn't impact over-the-fence Shinnecock Hills), the course's relatively short length that didn't meet the era's "championship course" standards, or simply that the unique Macdonald shapes and concepts were too quirky for the prevailing tastes of the era. No matter now. National is rightly positioned as one of America's most original and influential expressions of golf course architecture.
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    The trio of clubs, Nos, 7, 3 and 12 respective in Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses ranking, add to an impressive list of venues already slated to host each event. Consider these lineups:

    CURTIS CUP

    2026: Bel Air Country Club, Los Angeles
    2028: Royal Dornoch, Dornoch, Scotland
    2030: National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.
    2034: Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Hills, N.J.
    2038: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.
    2042: Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach
    2046: Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Fla.

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    Cypress Point Club
    Pebble Beach, CA
    5
    28 Panelists
    From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:Cypress Point, the sublime Monterey Peninsula work of sandbox sculpture, whittled Cypress and chiseled coastline, has become Exhibit A in the argument that classic architecture has been rendered ineffectual by modern technology.I'm not buying that argument.Those who think teeny old Cypress Point is defenseless miss the point of Alister MacKenzie’s marvelous design.MacKenzie relished the idea that Cypress Point would offer all sorts of ways to play every hole. That philosophy still thrives, particularly in the past decade, after the faithful restoration of MacKenzie’s original bunkers by veteran course superintendent Jeff Markow.Certainly one way to play Cypress is the full-bore, take-dead-aim, grip-it-and-rip-it, bomb-and-gouge approach. But it’s also a course where finesse still matters, where course management is still rewarded. Yes, long bombers can go low at Cypress Point these days, but so can short-hitting, thoughtful players, who much like sailors in a storm tack their way around bunkers, trees, dunes and ocean coves. And when the winds come up, as they often do at Cypress, it’s the latter approach that’s likely to be more successful.MacKenzie never believed much in three-shot par 5s, so if the 491-yard par-5 fifth is just a driver and 8-iron to many, well, both shots must still avoid acres and acres of sand bunkers splattered across the rolling fairway.Would the downhill 289-yard par-4 ninth, with its narrow stairstepped green tucked between sand dunes, be any more challenging if it would be lengthened 50 or 75 yards? It would still be reachable from the tee for big hitters, but out of range for ordinary players, robbing the majority of the fun and consternation of trying to drive a par 4.Likewise, little would be gained by lengthening the tiny 139-yard 15th, which plays over a cauldron of swirling Pacific. Curiously, MacKenzie lamented that the 15th lacked, “a sufficient number of alternative shots necessary to play it.” But he forgot about the wind, which invariably is either directly into one’s face, or blowing out to sea.As for the infamous par-3 16th, listed at 233 yards, its tee could be moved back up a hill to 260 yards, or even the 280-yard range. But why? To revive the debate whether Mackenzie originally intended the hole to be a short par 4?One of the great myths of Cypress Point is that founding member Marion Hollins, the 1921 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, convinced MacKenzie to reduce the 16th to a par 3. Jack Fleming, who supervised construction of the course, set the record straight 50 years ago. MacKenzie always conceived the hole as a heroic one-shotter, alternatively as a drive-and-pitch-par 3. Describing the 16th to San Francisco golf writer Art Rosenbaum, Fleming related:“Miss Marion Hollins and I watched as he [Dr. MacKenzie] took his place exactly where the back tee is today on the 16th. He said, ‘This is the place, over the water.’ We thought he was crazy and told him so, politely of course. Dr. MacKenzie would not budge. He said, ‘Dammitall, the land side is too simple. It they don’t have the game for it, they can play to the left. If they go to the green, they will be credited.’ ”Ironically, the one hole Mackenzie wanted longer was the 343-yard 18th, where a conventional fairway later become forested by the encroachment of cypress trees. Mackenzie had designed a back tee 50 yards out on an ocean rock, even proposed a suspension bridge to reach it, but it was never built. Today, despite some tree clearing, it’s still the most confounding of holes at Cypress Point, where even a big hitter has no true advantage.What’s not to like about that?
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    WALKER CUP

    2026: Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland
    2028: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.
    2030: Prince’s Golf Club, Kent, England
    2032: Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa.
    2036: Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Ill.
    2040: National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.
    2044: Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Hill, N.J.
    2048: Cypress Point Club, Pebble Beach
    2052: Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Fla.

    RELATED: How the Walker Cup curated golf’s most killer list of host courses

    “We talk a lot internally about how it’s important to players where they win their major,” Ben Kimball, USGA senior director of championships, who oversees course set-up for the Walker Cup, told Golf Digest last summer. “And that major could be the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, it could be the U.S. Girls’ Junior, it could be a victorious Walker Cup or Curtis Cup team. You think about us as golfers, it’s natural for us to say, ‘Yes, I played Cypress, yes, I played Seminole.’ Nobody really asks you what you shot. But you want to be associated with the greatest venues in the game if you’re an elite amateur or a professional golfer.”

    Stewart Hagstad, a five-time Walker Cup participant who clinched the winning point for the U.S. last September at Cypress point, echoed those sentiments. “The first thing people ask you is where you played your Walker Cups,” Hagestad said last year. “The second thing is if you won.”

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    Seminole Golf Club
    Juno Beach, FL
    4.8
    23 Panelists
    A majestic Donald Ross design with a clever routing on a rectangular site, each hole at Seminole encounters a new wind direction. The routing is perhaps the only thing that remains of Ross' vision. The greens are no longer his, replaced 60 years ago in a regrassing effort that showed little appreciation for the original rolling contours. The bunkers aren’t Ross either. Dick Wilson replaced them in 1947, his own version meant to imitate crests of waves on the adjacent Atlantic. A few years back, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw redesigned the bunkers again, set lower, closer to the way Ross had them, along with exposing sandy expanses in the rough. The club is about to embark on another major remodel by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner intended to finally recreate Ross’ internal green movements based on his blueprints and elevate sections of the course to remediate drainage concerns. Seminole has long been one of America’s most exclusive clubs, which is why it was thrilling to see it on TV for a first time during the TaylorMade Driving Relief match, and then again for the 2021 Walker Cup.
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    Given the infrastructure needs to host a modern men’s or women’s major championships, old-school venues such as National, Cypress and Seminole no longer are viable candidates. But holding these premier amateur events allows them competitive exposure while also allowing them to act in a stewardship capacity for the game.

    “The 50th Walker Cup was a dream come true for the world of amateur golf and Cypress Point alike,” said Peter Barker, past president of Cypress Point and chair of the 50th Walker Cup. “It only makes sense to continue sharing this treasure with a third Walker Cup and, especially a Curtis Cup, as our club was founded by a women’s amateur golf legend in the great Marion Hollins.”

    RELATED: The USGA is rethinking how it pays for amateur championships

    “Seminole Golf Club is honored to host future Curtis Cup and Walker Cup Matches," said Jimmy Dunne, president of Seminole Golf Club. "These competitions represent the very best of amateur golf, and we take great pride in providing a setting that embodies the history, traditions and spirit of the game while welcoming the world’s top amateur players.”

    Those participating in these matches will no doubt take great pride, too.

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