U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell makes albatross during Walker Cup practice round

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — If the past couple of days are any indication, there could be some low scores this weekend at the 2025 Walker Cup.

A day after Great Britain & Ireland's Luke Poulter made his first career hole-in-one during a practice round at Cypress Point, U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell has one-upped his counterpart.

Howell, the 18-year-old high school senior from Georgia, made albatross on the par-5 second hole Friday morning during the United States' practice round. He hit a 6-iron from 237 that landed on the front of the green and ended up in the hole.

Three weeks ago, Howell captured the Havemeyer Trophy at The Olympic Club, about 2.5 hours north of Cypress Point Club, ranked No. 1 on Golfweek's Best list of Classic Courses in the U.S.

Now, he has another special memory at one of the most famous courses in the world.

"It landed right on the front of the green and kind of rolled a little right to left and kind of slammed the flag and went in," Howell said.

Cypress Point, which opened in 1928, is playing about 6,600 yards for the 50th edition of the biennial bash between the the United States and GB&I. Players won't be tested as much on how far they can hit the ball but how good they are hitting into uniquely-sloped greens that are playing firm and fast.

However, if Poulter (who also holed out for eagle on the first hole and was 5 under thru 3 Thursday) and Howell's low scores in practice round are any indication, there's going to be plenty of circles available to the best amateurs in the world this weekend.

"This golf course, there are definitely some birdies out there, but it'll bite you just as fast," Howell said. "The golf course has firmed up a lot, so that's making it more difficult. It's one of those things that I think there will be some matches where there are a lot of birdies made, but there will be matches at the same time that par is winning some holes."