Site: Slaley Hall (Hunting Course)

Date: Sept. 20-22, 2013

Site: Slaley Hall (Hunting Course)

Northumberland, England

Defending Champion: United States

Prize Money and Honors

No prize money is awarded to the PGA Cup competitors. Members of both teams compete solely for their country and their country’s right of possession of the Llandudno International Golf Trophy.

Method of Play

Identical to that of the Ryder Cup: match play, including foursomes (two-man teams in alternate shot), four-ball (two-man teams in better ball) and singles (18 holes at match play).

United States PGA Cup Team

U.S. Captain: Allen Wronowski, Honorary President, PGA of America

Bel Air, Md.

Years W-L-H

JC Anderson, O’Fallon, Mo. Debut

Matt Dobyns, Glen Head, N.Y. Debut

Kelly Mitchum, Southern Pines, N.C. Debut

Rod Perry, Port Orange, Fla. Debut

Ryan Polzin, Houston, Texas Debut

Mike Small, Champaign, Ill. 2005, ’07, ’09, ’11 6-10-3

Mark Sheftic, Blue Bell, Pa. 2009, ’11 5-4-0

Jeff Sorenson, Blaine, Minn. Debut

Bob Sowards, Dublin, Ohio 2005 3-2-0

Chip Sullivan, Troutville, Va. 2007 2-1-0

Members of the 2013 United States Team were determined over a two-year points system, based on performances in the 2012 and 2013 PGA Professional National Championships, and the 2012 and ‘13 PGA Championship.

Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup Team

Great Britain & Ireland Captain: Russell Weir, PGA Professional

Cowal Golf Club

Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland

Years

Benn Barham of Kent, England Debut

Jon Barnes of Hampshire, England Debut

Nick Brennan of Wiltshire, England Debut

David Callaway of Surrey, England Debut

Graham Fox of Glasgow, Scotland Debut

Dan Greenwood, Lincolnshire, England Debut

Scott Henderson of Aberdeen, Scotland Debut

Greig Hutcheon, Kincardineshire, Scotland Debut

Richard Wallis, Kent, England Debut

Gareth Wright, Pebbleshire, Scotland Debut

The Great Britain & Ireland Team was determined following completion of the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship, June 14, 2013. The 2013 GB&I Team also featured a two-year points system that included the Titleist Playoffs and a Captain’s Selection.

Rules and Regulations.

The Rules of Golf, which govern play, are determined by the United States Golf Association and applied by The PGA of America.

2013 U.S. Eligibility

Must be a member in good standing of The PGA of America.

PGA Honorary President Allen Wronowski will serve as the U.S. Captain for the 26th PGA Cup.

(Membership on the 2013 PGA Cup Team will be forfeited should the player subsequently become reclassified as a Tour professional or any other ineligible classification).

U.S. PGA Cup Points System

The 2013 United States PGA Cup Team is determined through a two-year points system featuring a player’s performance in the 2012 and 2013 PGA Professional National Championship and the2012 and 2013 PGA Championship.

26th PGA CUP TEAM FINAL STANDINGS

2012 PNC 2013 PNC Total

1 Rod Perry, Port Orange, Fla. 2125 3125 5250

2 Mike Small, Champaign, Ill. 1800 1875 3675

3 Ryan Polzin, Houston, Texas 2813 2813

T4 Matt Dobyns, Glen Head, N.Y. 2500 2500

T4 Jeff Sorenson, Blaine, Minn. 2500 2500

6 Kelly Mitchum, Southern Pines, N.C. 2125 2125

7* Chip Sullivan, Troutville, Va. 1875 1875

8* Mark Sheftic, Blue Bell, Pa. 1875 1875

9 JC Anderson, O’Fallon, Mo. 1875 1875

10 Bob Sowards, Dublin, Ohio 1710 460 1250

The Ryder Cup for the PGA Club Professional

The PGA Cup originated in 1973 at Pinehurst (N.C.) Country Club as an outgrowth of the PGA Professional National Championship. Structured after the format of the Ryder Cup, which feature team competition between the U.S. and Europe, the PGA Cup features the top PGA club professionals from both sides of the Atlantic. Competition was held annually until 1984, when both countries agreed to hold this event biennially at alternating sites.

Proceeds from then-titled PGA Club Professional Championship in 1975 at Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga., covered the expenses of the U.S. Team for the first overseas PGA Cup.

A pro-am event was held prior to the 1975 PGA Cup, which raised $12,000 and made it possible for the British PGA to stage the competition. Great Britain & Ireland Captain Christy O’Connor Sr., then 51, did his part to keep the event alive, winning the pro-am.

The teams began with nine players, but the rosters were expanded to 10 in 1988. Qualification for America’s team is based upon performances in the PGA Club Professional Championship. From 1973-88, the European team was comprised of PGA club professionals from Great Britain and Ireland. The format was changed from 1990-94, opening up qualifying spots to professionals throughout Europe. The selection process was revised in 1996 to feature only Great Britain & Ireland players.

The Llandudno International Golf Trophy

The scars of a tumble from long ago are no longer visible under its lid. The Llandudno International Golf Trophy, the prize of the winning team of the PGA Cup, looks as good as new today. You can credit the silversmith, Samuel Pitt & Company near Birmingham, England, for performing a minor facelift on what is now a 74-year-old, 18-pound piece of hardware.

First awarded to England in 1939, the trophy was the idea of members of Maesdu Golf Club in Llandudno, a seaport in Conwy County, Wales. It began as the prize to the winning side in the first Home Tournament Series, which featured teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The series was abolished with the outbreak of World War II. Former Great Britain Ryder Cup veteran Percy Alliss (1929, ’31, ’33, ’35, ’37), who had served as the captain of England, retired the trophy to his personal collection.

The story of that famous dent is linked to World War II, when Germany’s relentless bombing missions against Britain reached a crescendo. During one particular mission to rain havoc upon Southampton and Portsmouth, a German bomber was perilously low on fuel and had to turn its munitions loose on non-targets.

One bomb exploded on the first fairway of Ferndown Golf Club near Bournemouth, less than 50 yards from the Alliss home. The ensuing tremor was so strong that it rumbled through the neighborhood and anything fragile within nearby homes was in peril.

“My grandmother (Dorothy) kept the trophy on the mantelpiece,” said Gary Alliss, Great Britain & Ireland Captain in 2007 and 2009. “Well, it tumbled to the floor on its head and caused the dent to the lid. After my parents married in 1953, my mother took on the role of guardian and cleaned that trophy for years.”

Percy Alliss, who passed away in 1975, ensured that the Llandudno Trophy would be forever secure with the “Home Professionals.” In 1972, he and his son, Peter, a former captain of the Professional Golfers’ Association, an eight-time Ryder Cup participant and one of BBC’s most popular voices of golf, donated the trophy to the Professional Golfers’ Association. The trophy would forever be awarded to the winner of the PGA Cup.

Slaley Hall’s Hunting Course Ready to host the 2013 PGA Cup

Perhaps there isn’t a better-titled venue to host a PGA Cup, than The Hunting Course at Slaley Hall in Northumberland, England. The Dave Thomas-designed layout, which opened in 1993, provides the challenge for the 26th PGA Cup, as the United States and Great Britain & Ireland Team begin the quest to secure possession of the Llandudno International Golf Trophy. It marks the sixth time that the PGA Cup will be conducted in England, and the first since The Belfry was host in 1988 in Sutton Coldfield.

Positioned 17 miles west of vibrant Newcastle-on-Tyne, Slaley Hall is a northern jewel that lies in 1,000 acres of Northumberland moorland and forest, featuring an Edwardian mansion, a luxury hotel and an unforgettable 36-hole golf complex. Slaley Hall lies an hour south of the Scottish border and an extra hour from Muirfield Golf Club in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland.

Named after Charles Samuel Hunting, the original owner of Slaley Hall, the course has been the site of either European Tour or European Seniors Tour events since 1993, including hosting the past four DeVere Club PGA Seniors’ Championships that are part of the European Senior Tour.

One need not look far for a challenging hole on 7,036-yard, par-72 Hunting Course, with the 12th hole, a 412-yard, par-4, serving as a stern test. A sweeping dogleg left set up from the tee, with trees to the left and a fairway bunker to the right. Once a golfer finds the fairway, there is a spectacular backdrop of kaleidoscopic colors from the rhododendrons and tall pines to digest, with a mid-iron required to reach a large green that is framed with greenside bunkers and swales. Precision and yardage accuracy is the key and it’s vital that your ball lands on the same level as the pin.

Among the significant competitions at Slaley Hall are: European Senior Tour – Northern Electric (1993-96); European Tour – Compaq European Grand Prix (1997-2000); European Tour – Great North Open (2001-02); European Seniors Tour DeVere Hotels Seniors Classic (2001-05); PGA Europro Tour Championship (2009); The DeVere Club PGA Seniors Championship (2005-2011).

The 2013 Great Britain & Ireland Team received an ample warm up at Slaley Hall. The bulk of the team completed play on the Hunting Course, June 11-14, in the 2013 Glenmuir PGA Championship

The Hunting Course

Slaley Hall – Northumberland, England

Par: 72

Yardage: 7,036 Designer: Dave Thomas (opened for play 1993)

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Par 4 5 5 4 3 4 4 3 4

Yards 362 550 531 395 179 331 395 184 463

Front 9 Par: 36 Yardage: 3,390

Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 4 4

Yards 419 429 412 521 382 198 418 423 444

Back 9 Par: 36 Yardage: 3,646 Course Par: 72 Yardage: 7,036

History Through the Years

U.S. 17 Wins Great Britain & Ireland - Europe 5 Wins 3 Draws

Year Results Site U.S. Team European

Captain Team Captain

Inaugural 1973 USA 13 GB&I 3 Pinehurst (N.C.) CC William Clarke Tom Halliburton

2nd 1974 USA 11 GB&I 4 Pinehurst (N.C.) CC Henry Poe Brian Hutchinson

3rd 1975 USA 9 GB&I 6 Hillside GC, Southport, England Don Padgett Jr. Christy O’Connor Sr.

4th 1976 USA 9 GB&I 6 Moortown GC, Leeds, England Frank Cardi George Will

5th 1977 USA 8 GB&I 8 Mission Hills CC, Palm Springs, Calif. Henry Poe Jack Hargreaves

6th 1978 GB&I 10 USA 6 St. Mellion G&CC, Plymouth, England Henry Poe Tommy Horton

7th 1979 GB&I 12 USA 4 Castletown Links, Isle of Man, England Don Padgett Jr. Bill Watson

8th 1980 USA 15 GB&I 6 Oak Tree GC, Edmond, Okla. Don Padgett Jr. David Talbot

9th 1981 USA 10 GB&I 10 Turnberry Isle CC, Miami, Fla. Joe Black Doug Smith

10th 1982 USA 13 GB&I 7 Holston Hills CC, Knoxville, Tenn. Don Padgett Jr. David Jones

11th 1983 GB&I 14 USA 6 Muirfield, Scotland Joe Black Keith Hockey

12th 1984 GB&I 12 USA 8 Turnberry, Scotland Joe Black Keith Hockey

13th 1986 USA 16 GB&I 9 Knollwood CC, Lake Forest, Ill. Mark Kizziar Derek Nash

14th 1988 USA 15 GB&I 10 The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England Mickey Powell David Huish

15th 1990 USA 19 EUR 7 Turtle Point GC, Kiawah Island, S.C. J.R. Carpenter Richard Bradbeer

16th 1992 USA 15 EUR 11 Kildare Hotel & CC, Dublin, Ireland Patrick J. Rielly Paul Leonard

17th 1994 USA 15 EUR 11 PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Dick Smith Michael Ingham

18th 1996 USA 13 GB&I 13 Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland Gary Schaal Craig DeFoy

19th 1998 USA 17 GB&I 9 The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo. Tom Addis III Craig DeFoy

20th 2000 USA 13½ GB&I 12½ Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales Ken Lindsay David Llewellyn

21st 2003 USA 19 GB&I 7 PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Fla. Jack Connelly/Will Mann David Jones

22nd 2005 GB&I 15 USA 11 The K Club, Straffan, Ireland M.G. Orender Jim Farmer

23rd 2007 USA 13½ GB&I 12½ Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Ga. Roger Warren Gary Alliss

24th 2009 USA 17½ GB&I 8½ The Carrick, Loch Lomond, Scotland Brian Whitcomb Gary Alliss

25th 2011 USA 17½ GB&I 8½ CordeValle, San Martin, Calif. Jim Remy Russell Weir