During this time Grantland Rice took up the game of golf and got to know Walker at the Nashville Golf and Country Club. Rice took lessons from the club's pro Charlie Hall, hired in 1909. Rice began playing there regularly and said "I never dreamed that golf would provide so must grist for my typewriter". A few years later, Walker was in need of Rice's knowledge in order to find a golf pro after the existing pro, Samuel Aiken, died suddenly. Scottish golfer George Livingstone happened to hear of the situation and immediately applied for the position. Walker asked Grantland Rice to investigate Livingstone via a telegram, saying "...look him up and wire us". Rice's report was favorable, and Walker hired George Livingstone on May 12, 1912. Livingston served as golf pro there for 36 years, retiring in 1948. In 1914, when the club was moved to a new location, Walker served on the project committee, the golf course committee and was a long-time board member. The club moved to Belle Meade, a suburb of Nashville, and was renamed "Belle Meade Country Club" in 1921. In 1916, sportswriter Blinkey Horn claimed that the golf course "has no equal in the south".
