Magic memories at PGA Cup reunion

Past Great Britain and Ireland PGA Cup players and captains, including two from the first matches in 1973, swapped tales of triumph and adversity during a special 40^th anniversary celebration at De Vere Slaley Hall.

Bill Ferguson and Bryon Hutchinson were part of the first GB&I team to compete for the Llandudno International Trophy at Pinehurst No.2 in North Carolina and four decades later remember vividly the excitement and pride at representing their country.

Despite the US handing out a 13-3 hammering, the pair, who played together in the foursomes and fourballs, still had fond memories of the contest which has earned the nickname of the club pro’s Ryder Cup.

Ferguson, who also played in 1976, recalled of the inaugural encounter:

“I won the foursomes partnering Bryon and then in the fourball we played Rives McBee and Denny Lyons. Hutch and I were five under par and we lost 5&4. In the singles they wiped us out 7-1. I won my singles, beating a guy called Ernie George. Six foot seven he was – we were like tweedledee and tweedledum going up the fairway. I beat him 2up.

“The event was new to club pros, add in the fact it was at Pinehurst No.2 which at the time was in the top 10 courses in the world and it was very special.

“When you are standing there and they are playing God Save The Queen, you’re close to tears and you’re representing not just your profession but your country.”

Hutchinson captained the team the following year again at Pinehurst, adding: “It was all new, a wonderful venue, the sponsors couldn’t do enough and it was just a fabulous time. There were some good players in America, Rives McBee and Denny Lyons who really could play but were still nice guys.”

John Chillas made his debut in 1982 in Tennessee where GB&I were ‘gubbed’ according to the Scot but he went on to twice savour victory against the Americans – at Murfield in 1983 and Turnberry a year later.

“One of the things that gets you is when the flag goes up and you go ‘wow’. Then on the first tee the nerves and butterflies are there but there is a friendly camaraderie.

“At The K Club in 1992 I played a singles match against Lee Rinker. In the first six holes, he holed a couple of putts that possibly he shouldn’t have. It got to the sixth hole, he knocked a wonderful shot close. I got it on the green 40 feet away and proceeded to hole it and there was Lee at the back of the green with high fives at my shot. That's what it was like.”

Uphall Golf Club’s Gordon Law describes the event as the highlight of his career and he sampled all the emotions it can throw at a player having lost, tied and, memorably, been part of the 2005 winning team at The K Club.

“We tied in 1996. We had a chance to win, we were 13-12 and it was close. Bill Longmuir was two up with four to play and managed to lose all four, which wasn’t good for him and wasn’t good for us.

“We got heavily defeated in 2003 which was in February after the 9/11 and managed to win at The K Club which was great so I’ve got the full set

“Standing on the first tee is different, you’re not playing for yourself, it’s pretty nerve wracking to be honest.

“In 1996 I played Bob Ford and Perry Arthur with Fraser Mann in the fourballs and we shot 64, every hole was birdied apart from three. We were three up with six to play and they birdied the last six holes and won by one, I supposed that is a poor memory but a good match to be involved in.”

Andrew Hare, fresh from making history in the Walker Cup, was part of the 2003 team that was heavily defeated in Port St Lucie.

“I played Walker Cup in 1989 and was in the first team to win in America. With the PGA Cup, I think we were the first team to lose before we got to the singles – so I was part of two records in America, one for the right reason and one for the wrong reason.

“The Americans in 03 had a very strong team and a lot of long hitters. We were just bombarded, but the guys that we played against – it was impressive to watch even though I was on the receiving end of it. The only match I won was my singles game. I was told, just before we teed off, that the guy had just played four rounds at the US PGA Championship. I was lucky enough to beat him 2 and 1."

Former Huddersfield head pro Paul Carman represented his country twice in 1990 in Kiawah Island and in 1996 in the tied match at Gleneagles.

“Kiawah Island and the Ocean Course was going to hold the Ryder Cup in 1991. Bernard Gallagher joined us for that year and we went to see the course and there wasn’t a blade of grass on it nor a road to it and 12 months later they played the Ryder Cup on it which I just find incredible.

“It was good to have Bernard there. We were all good players and we didn’t really think a lot of it, but he was there as the PGA Cup was the same kind of time and he was there to take in the conditions and get a feeling for what the course would be like. Obviously with no grass he had nothing to look at it.

“At Gleneagles I felt we had good players and could win and we very nearly did.

“I was lucky my record was won three lost five and I never lost a singles match in the Cup.”