GREENSBORO, Ga. -- PGA Master Professional Gary Alliss of Birmingham, England is on a mission that he doesn't mind traveling across the Atlantic to share with both friends and strangers.
Named to serve a second consecutive term as Captain of the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup Team, Alliss is shaping his game plan five months in advance of the premier international competition for PGA club professionals. The 24th PGA Cup will be contested Sept. 18-20, at The Carrick course at the De Vere Deluxe Resort in Loch Lomond, Scotland.
Alliss was joined Monday by U.S. Captain Brian Whitcomb, the PGA Honorary President from Bend, Ore., at the first "Breakfast with the Captains" PGA Cup Media Day hosted by Reynolds Plantation.
Reynolds Plantation was host to the 2007 PGA Cup, in which the U.S. rallied to win by a 13½ to 12½ margin. Reynolds officials chose the day after the Masters, conducted 75 miles east, to showcase its facility and recall its hosting a PGA Cup.
"We are very proud to be hosting media representing five countries, and to help underscore how strong a bond our facility has to both The PGA of America and to The Professional Golfers' Association," said PGA Professional Bob Mauragas, vice president of golf operations. "It was great to host the PGA Cup and to build friendships with PGA Professionals on both sides of the Atlantic.
"We know that it will be another great competition this fall in Scotland, and we will have representation at The Carrick to support both teams."
After spending more than a year planning and shaping his team to become the first to win the PGA Cup on America soil, Alliss saw his team come up a point shy on a heartbreaking final day.
Yet, he said he felt it was one of the best played matches in Cup history.
"The sting of that loss has remained, but I am so honored and so excited about being named once again as Captain, and it is our job to win back the Llandudno Trophy," said Alliss, whose father, Peter, is a former European Ryder Cup player and the legendary golf analyst of BBC television.
"The trophy symbolizes the passion by which our PGA Professionals play the game. The trophy is part of the most important professional tournament for club professionals in terms of matches."
Alliss understandably has more than a passion about the PGA Cup, which he enjoyed relating to those who had no knowledge of how closely his family was tied to the Llandudno Trophy.
Begun in 1973, the PGA Cup is the "Ryder Cup for the club professional." It was modeled after the biennial competition that captivates the golf world, bearing the same format but having 10 not 12 players per team.
"These PGA Professionals have invested their whole life in the game of golf and now they have the chance to play for their country," said Whitcomb. "I don't think that I ever saw one team more proud to have earned a victory than our PGA Cup Team in 2007. All of the spirit of the game was brought together that week.
"It is humbling and a great honor for me to be able to serve as Captain and work to keep the Cup in the United States. The PGA Cup has been of great significance to our PGA Professionals on both sides of the Atlantic.
Whitcomb said that he wants to make his team come away from Scotland feeling that the PGA Cup "was one of the great experiences of their lives." He also said that he has been doing some advance homework in preparing to serve as Captain.
"I was fortunate to have spent a little time with our past Ryder Cup Captain, Paul Azinger," said Whitcomb. "I watched behind the scenes what he did to bring his team together, and I have taken home some of those things and made mental notes. I salute Paul for his tremendous work as Captain, and I hope that I can emulate his example in Scotland in September."
Named after one of Wales largest ports, the Llandudno Trophy once carried a dent on the underside of its lid, which it had received during World War II. The dent was since repaired, but the legend lives on.
First awarded to England in 1939, the trophy was the idea of members of Maesdu Golf Club in Llandudno 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 ensuring 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 sideboard," said Alliss. "Well, that bomb was so big that it shattered the windows and the trophy 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, donated the trophy to the Professional Golfers' Association. The trophy would forever be awarded to the winner of the PGA Cup.
"We got the trophy fixed up and it looks pretty good, doesn't it?" said Sandy Jones, chief executive of The Professional Golfers' Association, who took leadership prior to the 2004 PGA Cup to repair the trophy's lid.
"I believe that the general public has misconceptions about the PGA Cup. This is not just another competition, but rather one that brings together the best playing club professionals. I can tell you that any PGA Cup Team would beat any Walker Cup Team. These guys are high quality players, and at some time in their lives they chose not to chase around the world.
"This is not a second-rate match. To qualify is the pinnacle for them. Once you have played on a PGA Cup Team you always played. It remains on your résumé', and our guys are so proud of it."
About The PGA of America
Since 1916, The PGA of America's mission has been twofold: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.
By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the multi-billion dollar golf industry.
By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
