For some pure golf ? and a real playoff ? check out the Walker Cup action this weekend

Not to tear anybody away from the BMW Championship this week, but there’s another pretty cool event happening this weekend.

I’m talking about the Walker Cup Match, the amateur version of the Ryder Cup Matches. It’s the event so many legendary players have been a part of ? guys like Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, etc.

And you can check out the action this weekend on the Golf Channel, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT Saturday and Sunday from the East Course at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

Like the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup pits a squad from the United States against a team from Great Britain and Ireland. They play two days of matches in alternate shot and singles format. And the galleries are small, so there’s no need for ropes or one of those periscope viewers to see the action.

The Match, which began just after World War I, is named for former USGA president Geroge Herbert Walker (grandfather and namesake of former President George H. W. Bush) who was instrumental in starting the international competition. It was originally open to any country that wanted to challenge the U.S. team for the Cup, but Great Britain was the challenger that accepted. The competition was also played annually in the beginning, but later changed to every other year.

The United States, by the way, leads the series 33-7-1, however it’s been much more competitive in recent years. Since 1989, each side has won five times with the United States winning the last two.