Walker Cup: USA on High Alert as Former Golf Pro Takes Break from ‘Finance’ Job for Cypress Point Battle

It’s taken eight long years, a broken bone, a professional detour, and a full-circle return to amateur status, but finally, Stuart Grehan will make his Walker Cup debut this week. And when he tees it up for Great Britain & Ireland at the iconic Cypress Point Club on September 6, Grehan won’t just be like any other player on the team. He’ll be the most experienced, and probably one of the toughest competitors Team USA will face all weekend.

Grehan’s name might not be as common as the rest of his peers on the team. At 32 years of age, Grehan is the oldest member of the GB & I team. He was chasing a career in professional golf while most of his teammates were still in school — “Yes, I’ve heard all about my grey hairs from the other lads,” he told R&A with a smile. “I clearly bring some experience to the table. I’ve always enjoyed playing in front of a crowd. I like a bit of pressure,” he added. That statement is enough to give his rival team a slight shiver, and it wouldn’t come from a player still trying to find his footing.

In 2017, Stuart Grehan was on track to make the Walker Cup team for GB&I, but his dreams were shattered by a broken forearm from a soccer injury at Maynooth University. “That was tough,” Grehan admitted. But he turned professional later that year after recovering, and tried to make it work for nearly eight years, even until last year.

But he cited the demanding lifestyle as one of the main reasons why he couldn’t find success on the Challenge Tour and the EuroPro Tour. “But when I look at it all on a deeper level, it came down to me not being in love with the lifestyle. I just didn’t like being away constantly. Four or five weeks in a row away from my wife, Carla, and my son, Kai, was a struggle. But I’ve no regrets. I gave it a good go and learned so much from it all,” Grehan reflected.

Last year, after a 40th-place finish that earned him just over €1,500 at the 2024 D+D REAL Czech Challenge, he felt that was the best time to step away from the tour and the “right call” for him at that moment.

He ended his professional career after 86 events, and went to complete another passion of his — passing the QFA exams.

Stuart Grehan studied for his exams all while trying to reinstate his amateur career. He filled in the amateur form on a Saturday night, on the weekend of the Czech Challenge, but wasn’t too confident.

“I felt like that probably wasn’t going to happen. I did feel a bit sad, though. There was a bit of ‘what am I going to do now?'” he recalled. But six months later, Stuart Grehan was a fully reinstated amateur golfer, and now, he is about to tee it up on one of the grandest stages in amateur golf, while working as a financial advisor for the firm of DFP Pension Investments in Dundalk.

Stuart Grehan enters the Walker Cup with solid form

Stuart Grehan wasted no time in making up for lost ground and enters this week with exceptional form.

He captured two titles this year — at the Irish Amateur Open Championship (in May) and the Irish Men’s Amateur Close Championship (August). Grehan even finished in third place at the European Mid-Amateur Championship and played a key role in GB&I’s St. Andrews Trophy win in July. Even though he’s currently ranked 149th on the WAGR, his stellar performances in just 9 events this year point to a man who’s comfortable back in the amateur game and hungry to leave a lasting mark.

It’s not merely the fact that he is the oldest player on the team that makes him a threat, but the journey Stuart Grehan has taken to get here that sets him apart. Playing in the 50th edition of the Walker Cup this week, Grehan’s eight-year-old dream is finally coming true. He initially had a target to play at the 2026 Walker Cup in Lahinch, but his win at the Irish Amateur Open vaulted him into this week, making “this time round even more special.”

Stuart Grehan will be teeing it up alongside Luke Poulter and Niall Shiels Donegan as GB&I is eyeing to win the famous trophy for the first time since 2015 when they secured a 16½-9½ victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes, in England.