The weird fact about the US Walker Cup captain…

Great Britain & Ireland go toe-to-toe with the United States of America at Royal Liverpool this weekend in the 47th Walker Cup – and leading the US side into battle will be a man whose family is accustomed to being in the spotlight.

The American skipper for the match is 57-year-old Nathaniel Crosby. His father? The legendary Bing Crosby.

Nathaniel is the youngest of the late crooner’s seven children and took up golf to connect with his golf fanatic father.

He was taught to play by the family’s Irish nanny, Bridget, who was also a professional golfer. At the age of 15, he won the club championship at Burlingame Country Club, prompting his father to describe it as “the happiest day of my life”.

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He represented the University of Miami golf team and, in 1981, qualified for the US Amateur at The Olympic Club, which, against all odds, he won, becoming the third youngest champion in the event’s history.

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The following year, he was the low amateur in the US Open at Pebble Beach and, in 1983, he was part of the American team that won the Walker Cup at, appropriately enough, Royal Liverpool.

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After a brief and unsuccessful stint as a pro, he was reinstated as an amateur in 1994.

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Currently, he’s the chairman of AppleTree Golf Society, a network of small travel societies that are tied to golf clubs in holiday destinations. He has also served as a partner and key executive for three golf equipment companies.

He leads his American team into battle with Craig Watson’s GB&I side at Royal Liverpool this week.