U.S., GB&I PGA Professionals Gear Up for 24th PGA Cup at Loch Lomond

LOCH LOMOND, Scotland -- A sign near the entrance of The Carrick bears a slogan that is repeated on the undercarriage of every golf car -- reminding a visitor the magnitude of one's location.

"This is the Life."

For the PGA Professional, especially those who have toiled for two years for the right to represent their country in a Ryder Cup-style competition, the 24th PGA Cup is a milestone in one's golf career.

For the next few days the bonny banks of the largest inland loch in the United Kingdom is home to what promises to be a compelling duel between the United States' and Great Britain & Ireland's finest club professionals.

The PGA Cup opens Friday and concludes Sunday at The Carrick, a 7,082-yard, par-71 course that opened in June 2007 yet appears to have been here much longer. As a "new resident" of the Scottish Highlands rota of courses, it also bears a unique twist through its architect, Doug Carrick.

There are 118 steep sod-faced pot bunkers dotting the landscape, which makes a player feel that this lush parkland could not forget its Scottish links roots.

"It's something that you don't see every day, and I guess I should know, because I'm the oldest guy on the team and I've see a lot of courses," said Sonny Skinner, 49, a PGA teaching professional at River Pointe Golf Club in Albany, Ga. "What a thrill to be here and play on this team! This is a great layout, and will play longer than normal with a lot of uphill shots. This is the homeland of golf and the first time I've ever played in the U.K. We have been treated so well and now it's time to play."

The United States recaptured the Llandudno International Golf Trophy in 2007 in a nail-biting 13˝ to 12˝ finish at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga. This week, three of the '07 U.S. Team members return while facing a host Great Britain & Ireland 10-member unit that has four returnees along with Captain Gary Alliss, who guided the '07 GB&I Team.

The United States owns a 15-5-3 advantage in the PGA Cup, and 4-1-1 since 1986 on overseas visits. U.S. Captain and Honorary PGA President Brian Whitcomb of Bend, Ore., was encouraged by Tuesday's practice round and a planned Monday afternoon trip with his team to Western Gailes Golf Club an hour south and along the ocean.

"We're getting into it and I like what I saw today from the guys," said Whitcomb, who said that he had spent some time discussing team strategy and personalities with 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger. "The players like this course and what they see around it. They looked very relaxed to me and that is what I want to see. I want them to be at ease.

"Our trip Monday afternoon to one of the great golf courses in the world really was a way to get everyone to feel loose, get their legs back under them; to all get a better night's sleep and get back on the new clock."

Ryan Benzel, 30, a PGA teaching professional at Battle Creek Golf Course in Tulalip, Wash., is one of the American returnees from 2007, and someone whose Sunday singles heroics lifted his team to victory.

"It's a fun golf course," said Benzel. "It is very unusual to see those pot bunkers staring at you in a parkland setting. They are not hidden from you, but you know you have to stay out of them. If you hit a ball in, it depends how far your ball rolls in as to whether you have a chance to play out. It's virtually a penalty every time. Overall, I'd call it a fun course and the greens are huge! Whoever makes the putts. . .and that is the story any time, right? As long as the rain and the wind aren't coming at you, we'll take it."

Great Britain & Ireland's preparation, said Captain Alliss, also is progressing well.

"I'd say that my guys are a much-better traveled group than what I had in 2007," said Alliss. "And, our reigning National Champion (James Lee) of South Wales "is a very under-control type player. You will have to earn it against him, just as what I see in America's National Champion [Mike Small of Champaign, Ill.]. There are a lot of similarities between those players. Overall, I also believe that I have learned a lot in the past two years about coaching and my own preparations for this PGA Cup. We're anxious to get going."

Whitcomb said his own preparation time with Azinger also has led him to let the player combinations for the first two critical days of competition develop gradually and not be forced.

"I will see how the players react in practice and how their talents complement one another," said Whitcomb. "It is a process that we believe will take its course over the next few days. Above all, I want them to have fun. This is their reward after all the time and hard work that they have put in the past two years."

Reigning PGA Professional National Champion Small, the University of Illinois men's golf coach, is making his third straight PGA Cup appearance. Small is joined by Steve Schneiter of Sandy, Utah, the 1995 PGA Professional National Champion who competed in 1996; and Lee Rinker, 48, of Jupiter, Fla., who was a team member in 1992 and 2007.

Rounding out the U.S. Team are six talented rookies: Skinner, Kyle Flinton of Oklahoma City, Okla.; 2008 PGA Professional National Champion Scott Hebert of Traverse City, Mich.; Eric Lippert of Marina, Calif; Mark Sheftic of Ambler, Pa.; and Craig Thomas of White Plains, N.Y.

Leading the Great Britain & Ireland unit is Paul Wesselingh, a 47-year-old head professional at Kedleston Park in Derby, England, who is making his sixth PGA Cup appearance. Joining him will be Cup rookie but newly-crowned Glenmuir PGA Champion Lee of Caerphilly Golf Club in South Wales and reigning Wales Open Champion Will Barnes of Lancashire, England. Andrew Barnett of Denbigshire, Wales, and Jon Bevan of Dorset, England competed with Wesselingh on the 2007 GB&I Team. Paul Simpson of West Berkshire, England competed in 1998.

Rounding out the GB&I team are first-time Cup competitors James Harris of Kent, England; Craig Matheson, at 26, the youngest on the team, a native Scot, who lives in Falkirk, England; Jeremy Robinson of Evesham, England; and Barry Taylor of St. Helens, England.

The U.S. Team was determined following play July 1, in the 42nd PGA Professional National Championship at Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. The Great Britain & Ireland team was determined June 19, following the Glenmuir PGA Championship at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland.