Men’s golf coach to represent Team USA at PGA Cup Sept. 18-20

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UT Head Men’s Golf Coach Jamie Broce will represent Team USA at the upcoming 27th annual PGA Cup.

Broce is one of 10 members of Team USA who will compete against Great Britain and Ireland for the Llandudno International Trophy Friday through Sunday, Sept. 18-20, at the CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif.

Members of the 2015 U.S. team were determined over a two-year points system, based on performances in the 2014 and 2015 PGA Professional Championships and the 2015 PGA Championship.

The PGA Cup originated in 1973 at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort as an outgrowth of the PGA Professional National Championship. Structured after the format of the Ryder Cup, which features team competition between the United States 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 the PGA Professional National 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 and 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 Professional National Championship. From 1973 to 1988, the European team was comprised of PGA club professionals from Great Britain and Ireland. The format was changed from 1990 1994, opening up qualifying spots to professionals throughout Europe. The selection process was revised in 1996 to feature only Great Britain and Ireland players.

The PGA Cup, the international showcase event for PGA Professionals, returns to California for the third time and to CordeValle, which last hosted in 2011.

CordeValle is 30 minutes south of San Jose. Opened for play in 1999, CordeValle is destined to be the equal of the world’s finest golf courses. It attracted nationwide attention from 2010 to 2013 and the acclaim of participants, hosting the PGA Tour’s Frys.Com Open. In 2016, CordeValle will be the site of the U.S. Women’s Open.

Featuring a 260-acre, 18-hole championship golf course designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Jr., the California golf resort has garnered some of America’s most prestigious golf recognition in 2015; it was lauded as a top course by Golf Digest, Golfweek and Golf Magazine.

Featuring unobstructed views of natural beauty with dramatic contours and elevation changes, this 18-hole, 7,252-yard, par-72 golf course makes innovative use of Northern California’s hillsides, canyons and broad meadows.

Broce is in his fourth season as Toledo’s head men’s golf coach. He has guided the Rockets to a top-three finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships in each of his three years and five team tournament titles.