"TE Paul,
Is the Crump Cup final on its usual last weekend in September, or has it been moved up closer to the Walker Cup?"
Peter:
I'm not so sure I'd say the Crump Cup has a usual weekend. In my experiences in it for maybe 12-15 years it seems like it was either on the third or last weekend of September and I think they make that determination due to various factors on the schedules of some other tournaments. I believe I might even remember one when it got over into the first few days of Oct. I think I recall a few times they moved it around to get it from conflicting with the US Mid-Amateur because there are generally a number of invitees to the Crump who play in that and they don't want to lose them with a schedule conflict. I would certainly assume that the same may be true with some Walker Cup players who will be at Merion the week before this year's Crump Cup which is Sept. 17-20. It's also worth noting that Buddy Marucci has been the chairman of the Crump Cup tournament for quite a while now and he's also the captain of the Walker Cup at Merion this year. During the Crump Cup dinner it's sort of traditional to get the players in the tournament who've had some notable career tournament success like US and British Amateurs to stand up and take a bow. The same is true with those in the field who've played on Walker Cups. It was always impressive to me how many of them there are usually in those Crump Cup fields. But this year with the Walker Cup in town the week before it would not surprise me if the Crump doesn't basically invite the teams from both sides and so if those Walker Cuppers can stay around an extra week this year it might be pretty amazing how many current Walker Cup players from both sides are playing in this year's Crump Cup. The other cool thing about the Crump for players like those is the price is definitely right!
PS:
As for the Walker Cup schedule that would be very interesting to know how the USGA slides that around to either avoid conflicts with other touraments or perhaps try to hook up with them the week before or the week after some big event like the US Amateur. I do remember a year the US Amateur was at Merion when Mickelson and Gamez were playing in it. Both just came from the Walker Cup and they were some kind of beat as it was really hot and they'd played something like a dozen rounds in six days. And I remember the Walker Cup at Pine Valley in 1985 or 1988 or whenever it was when most of the players were going on to the US Amateur the next week somewhere in New Jersey. That was the year the world and particularly the USGA got their first look at the shocking Uber-distance of Davis Love at the Walker Cup at Pine Valley. But his wrist was all tapped up in the Walker Cup at Pine Valley and he had to pull out of the US Amateur the next week but one on that team went on and won the amateur the next week. I can sort of remember some of their names----Love, Waldorf, Verplank, Scott Burroughs etc.