Del Mar golfer Michael Kim named to 2013 USA Walker Cup team

Golfer Michael Kim, a Del Mar native, has been selected to the 2013 USA Walker Cup team. Many of the game’s greatest players have participated in Walker Cup competition, including U.S. Open champions Francis Ouimet, Bob Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods for the USA.

The 10-player team representing the United States will compete in the 44th Walker Cup Match against Great Britain and Ireland, scheduled for Sept. 7-8 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y., which is hosting the match for the first time since it hosted the inaugural Walker Cup in 1922.

Kim, 20, won four collegiate events in his sophomore year at the University of California-Berkeley and was honored as the 2012-13 Golfweek/Sagarin Player of the Year and the Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Year.

Kim was first-team All-American and named to the All-Nicklaus Team, Palmer Cup, All-West Region and All-Pac 12. He also won the 2013 Golfstat Cup for having the lowest adjusted scoring average entering the NCAA Championship. In May, Kim won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the NCAA Division I player of the year, and in June the Fred Haskins Award as the national collegiate player of the year, as determined in voting by collegiate golfers, coaches and members of the national media.

In addition, Kim was one of three finalists for the Ben Hogan Award presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer. He finished as the low amateur by five strokes at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, tying for 17th place. He also tied for 38th in the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic in July.

The Walker Cup Match is a biennial 10-man amateur team competition between the USA and a team composed of players from Great Britain and Ireland. It is played over two days with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes (alternate-shot) matches. The USA leads the overall series, 34-8-1, and has not lost on American soil since the 2001 Match at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.