Ten-man 2005 U.S. PGA Cup team is finalized

Newly crowned PGA CPC Champion Mike Small will head the 10-member U.S. Team to face Great Britain-Ireland in the 22nd PGA Cup, Sept. 23-25, at The K Club in Ireland. Among the other members of the U.S. Team in the premier international competition for PGA Professionals are previous CPC champs Bob Sowards and Tim Thelen.

By Bob Denney, PGA of America

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (PGA.com) -- Newly crowned PGA Club Professional Champion Mike Small of Savoy, Ill., will head a 10-member team to face Great Britain-Ireland in the 22nd PGA Cup, Sept. 23-25, at The K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.

Small, 39, the men's coach at the University of Illinois in Champaign, won the 38th PGA Club Professional Championship on Sunday by two strokes at The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, and will make his first appearance on the U.S. Team in the premier international competition for PGA Professionals.

The U.S. Team, guided by Captain M.G. Orender of Jacksonville, Fla., the Honorary President of The PGA of America, also includes 2003 PGA Club Professional Champion Tim Thelen of Richmond, Texas, and 2004 Champion Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio, both of whom had earned berths through their respective national championships prior to last weekend.

They will be joined on the U.S. Team by: Travis Long of Henderson, Nev.; Scott Spence of Shorewood, Minn.; 1996 PGA Club Professional Champion Darrell Kestner of Glen Cove, N.Y.; Ron Philo Jr. of Amelia Island, Fla.; Bob Ford of Oakmont, Pa.; Brett Melton of Monee, Ill.; and Chip Johnson of Hingham, Mass.

Thelen, who finished tied for sixth in the CPC, is a PGA Assistant Professional at Bushwood Golf Center in Houston, Texas. He competed on the U.S. Team in 2000 and 2003. Sowards, the reigning PGA Club Professional Player of the Year and making his PGA Cup debut, is the PGA Director of Golf at the Golf Centre of Dublin, Ohio.

Other U.S. Team members with previous PGA Cup experience include: Kestner (1998), a PGA Head Professional at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset, N.Y., and Ford (1981, '84, '90, '96), the PGA Director of Golf at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club and PGA Head Professional at Seminole Golf Club in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Long, the CPC runner-up, is a PGA Assistant Professional at Southshore Golf Club in Henderson, Nev.; Spence is PGA Head Professional at Burl Oaks Golf Club in Minnetrista, Minn.; Philo is a PGA Teaching Professional at The Kittansett Club in Marion, Mass.; Melton is PGA Assistant Professional at Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort, Ill.; and Johnson is PGA Head Professional at Hatherly Country Club in North Scituate, Mass.

The Great Britain & Ireland Team was determined June 19, following the Glenmuir PGA Club Professional Championship in Lincolnshire, England. The GB&I Team is led by Captain Jim Farmer of St. Andrews, Scotland, and will feature six players with previous PGA Cup experience: Andrew Baguley of Greater Manchester, England; Simon Edwards of Wrexham, Wales; Gordon Law of West Lothian, Scotland; Fraser Mann of East Lothian, Scotland; Tony Nash of Cornwall, England; and Paul Wesselingh of Derby, England.

Those making their first PGA Cup appearance are: Matthew Ellis of Wrexham, Wales, the 2005 Glenmuir PGA Champion; Richard Dinsdale of Newport, Wales; Darren Parris of Kent, England; and England's Mark Reynolds, who is based in Noordvijk, Holland.

The PGA Cup, which originated in 1973, brings together the finest PGA club professionals in the United States and Great Britain & Ireland.

The United States owns a 15-3-3 advantage in the PGA Cup, and has never been defeated on home soil. The United States retained possession of the Llandudno International Trophy, awarded to the winning team, with a 19-7 victory in February 2003 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The PGA of America, founded in 1916, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes the game of golf while continuing to enhance the standards of the profession. The Association is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals who are dedicated to growing participation in the game of golf.

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