21 years ago, Colm Moriarty was part of the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, captained by Garth McGimpsey, who beat the USA at Ganton Golf Club. For the first time since, he will don the GB&I colours at this month’s PGA Cup in Oregon.
The PGA Cup was first played in 1973 and is a biennial contest between the PGAs of Great Britain & Ireland and America.
The event is seen as the pinnacle for any PGA Professional as both teams go head-to-head in a Ryder Cup format to win the Llandudno International Trophy.
Moriarty (Glasson Lakehouse) will be the PGA in Ireland’s only representative at Sunriver Resort from September 9-15 having secured qualification via a top-five finish at the PGA Professional Championship in Wales back in June.
“It’s a huge honour to represent all my fellow PGA Professionals and it’s been a big goal of mine for a good while to make the team and when you do make the team you see how big of a deal it is,” said the Athlone native.
“It’s a fantastic event and to try and go over and win it in America makes it extra special.”
Following the 2003 Walker Cup, Moriarty turned professional and plied his trade on tour. In 2007 he recorded wins on both the Challenge Tour and the third-tier PGA EuroPro Tour, the former at the FIRSTPLUS Wales Challenge, and the latter at the Wensum Valley International Open.
In July 2010, he led local final qualifying at Kingsbarns to set up a maiden major championship at the most storied venue in golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews. He made the cut and finished tied 37th.
The Glasson Lakehouse professional then took the PGA route and became a fully qualified PGA pro in 2018 and since then, a PGA Cup appearance has been on his radar.
“Prior to me joining the PGA I didn’t know an awful lot about it because my focus was elsewhere,” he explained. “But when I became a fully qualified PGA Professional in 2018 and started talking to guys who have played on the team and looking into the history of the event, it grows on you, and you realise how big it is.
“I’ve been lucky to play a lot of team golf as an amateur, but you don’t get to play any team golf as a professional really. It’s my first time playing on the team as a pro and the more you become aware of the history of the event the bigger it becomes.
“It’s a massive honour and you never take these things for granted. You have to qualify so a few guys get to play. You need to play well in a set few events so it can be difficult. It’s funny, I would know most of the guys over the last few years playing PGA events then other guys I would know over 25-30 years playing amateur golf and on teams against some of the other home teams.”
It’s only as the years go by that Moriarty realises the magnitude of the Walker Cup. Helping Great Britain and Ireland to a 12.5-11.5 victory was a special moment, particularly when you consider that the United States have prevailed in all but two of the subsequent stagings, but back in 2003, it was just another box ticked, another step on the journey to the pro ranks.
“Regarding the Walker Cup, that was something that was always on my radar from a young age. I went to the one in 1991 in Portmarnock and I soon realised it was the pinnacle of amateur golf and it was a huge goal of mine to get on that team.
“I suppose as the years go on, when you’re in the heat of battle these things are at the forefront of your focus but they are just another step on the journey. As the years go by and you look back, people still talk to you about the Walker Cup – that’s when you realise how big of an occasion these things are.
“It was a huge occasion. I played all my amateur golf growing up in Athlone and we had a great junior structure there. It’s a great honour for yourself, your friends and family, everyone who has helped you in your career. I remember a lot of people came over from Athlone to support me. That’s one of the biggest memories of that week and it still comes up in conversation 21 years later.”
The Walker Cup is the last time Moriarty played in a team event, a fact he laments in professional golf. But it has made him more determined to soak in everything to do with the PGA Cup when he heads over to Oregon with his teammates.
“There’s definitely a different element to team golf. You are fighting for all your teammates and PGA Professionals. We know the history of how hard it is to go over to America and win the trophy, so everyone will be psyched up for the week.
“We will have a big build up going over on the Sunday before it starts on the Friday, and the camaraderie will build up and I remember with the Walker Cup that it was the same, everyone became really tight in the few days leading into the event.
“There are a lot of functions, dinners and you are in each other’s company a lot, so the anticipation builds and when the gun goes on the first day everyone is ready to let everything out.
“Simon (Thornton) didn’t play a lot of team events in amateur golf, so he had a different route to being a pro and I haven’t played team golf for over 20 years. There’s no doubt about it that it stirs up something different inside you.
“I was fortunate I played a lot of Irish team golf from 16 to 23 and it becomes the norm being part of a team. When you turn pro and don’t have that team atmosphere it’s something you miss, and it will probably help me appreciate it more being part of a team like that.”
Heading Stateside, Moriarty can take a great deal of confidence having won three times this season (two solo victories and one shared) including shooting a course record 62 in Elm Park, partly thanks to a new Evnroll putter which he was inspired to try after seeing one of his Pro-Am partners using one the week prior.
Interestingly, the previous record was held by none other than Moriarty himself who shot the same number there last year, but course changes in the meantime meant that the honour was up for grabs once again and he duly did so.
“I’ve played a lot of good stuff,” he said. “There are some events I would have liked to play better in, but the PGA Cup was a massive focus of mine this year there is no doubt about that. We have a big end to the season coming up with some big events.
“In Balmoral one of my Pro-Am partners was using one and I just picked it up and thought it felt lovely. I know Ross in Evnroll and I went down to try one and I told the guys the first time I used it was in Elm Park and I shot a course record 62.
“It’s funny, sometimes you pick up a club and it just feels right and it works well, so hopefully it keeps behaving itself.”
The PGA of America have won the last two PGA Cup contests, most recently at Foxhills Club & Resort in Surrey in September 2022.
Sunriver Resort is regarded as one of America’s most scenic golf destinations and has previously hosted four PGA of America member championships, including the 50th PGA Professional Championship in 2017. Among those lining up for the United States is Michael Block, who shot to fame with an incredible run at the 2023 PGA Championship where his highlights included a final-round hole-in-one playing alongside Rory McIlroy.
As big as the occasion will be, however, Moriarty’s goal is crystal clear, and he’s not satisfied with just taking part.
“When you get into it, you do a bit more research, and you see how big an event it actually is. But we’re going over there to reclaim the Trophy,” he emphatically declared.
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