Mid-Am Grehan Brings Experience in Walker Cup Debut

It was the evening of Oct. 4, 2024, and Stuart Grehan was playing in the D+D REAL Czech Challenge. After three rounds it was clear that the Irishman was not going to win.

His steady rounds of 68-67-67 may have taken him to eight under-par, but the 31-year-old was 14 shots behind the 54-hole leader (and eventual champion) Benjamin Follett-Smith. It was an all-too familiar “back in the pack” state of affairs that had occurred many times during Grehan’s eight-year professional career.

And so it was that the trigger was pulled on a decision he had been mulling for a while. This was no spur of the moment thing.

“It was Saturday night when I filled in the form saying I wanted my amateur status back,” says Grehan, who, only a few months on, is the oldest member of the Great Britain and Ireland squad that will contest the 50th Walker Cup match against the USA at Cypress Point Club this weekend. He is one of two mid-amateurs competing; the USA’s Stewart Hagestad, 34, is playing in his fifth Match.

“If I had finished third or fourth that week my career earnings would have been enough that it would have taken me 12 months to get reinstated. But as I was lying about 40th at the time, 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?’”

In the end, Grehan was a fully reinstated amateur golfer only six months later. And pretty soon after that he was the Irish Amateur Close and the Irish Open Amateur winner, titles he won amidst a plethora of high finishes in other prestigious events. Suddenly, nine years after he first played for GB&I against the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy, he was making a second appearance in that biennial fixture and well on his way to making his Walker Cup debut.

Clearly, things have turned out rather nicely for the man who now works as a financial advisor for the firm of DFP Pension Investments in Dundalk.

“My initial target when I regained my amateur status was the 2026 Walker Cup at Lahinch,” says Grehan. “So in that sense I’m ahead of schedule. Everything has happened very quickly. Winning the Irish Amateur opened up a few doors and I’ve played well all summer really. I’m delighted with how it has gone.

“I have asked myself many times where I fell short as a pro,” he continues. “Did I think I was good enough? Absolutely. And I still think I am. I won on the EuroPro Tour and a couple of times elsewhere. And I featured a few times on the Challenge Tour. So it wasn’t as if I was missing cuts every week.

“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.”

As much as anything, it is that professional experience Grehan will add to an otherwise youthful GB&I side in which the next-oldest member is nearly a decade younger than the County Louth (Baltray) member.

“Yes, I’ve heard all about my grey hairs from the other lads,” he says with a smile. “I clearly bring some experience to the table. I’ve always enjoyed playing in front of crowd. I like a bit of pressure. And yes, I’ve noticed how the game has moved on since I first played for Ireland nearly ten years ago.

“The lads hit the ball so much longer off the tee. A few of my Walker Cup teammates can really send it out there, well past me. This year’s Home Internationals opened my eyes, too. In one match, myself and John Doyle were six or seven under par playing foursomes, and lost. That showed me how well you need to play to compete successfully at the elite amateur level these days. The top end is stronger for sure.”

Amidst all of this feel-good stuff, one regret does linger for Grehan. Well on track to play in the Walker Cup in 2017 at The Los Angeles Country Club alongside the likes of Robert MacIntyre, Matthew Jordan and Connor Syme – and against future luminaries like Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and Maverick McNealy – he injured his elbow during a game of football (soccer) and lost his chance.

“That was tough,” admits Grehan. “I’d made the St. Andrews Trophy team and the Palmer Cup [International] side in 2016. So I was doing well and made a good start in 2017 too. But on a study break from college, I was playing a bit of football/tennis. I went up to head the ball over the net and as I was running back my right foot got caught. I fell and landed on my elbow. I knew right away something was wrong. My whole arm seized up and I couldn’t straighten it.

“I couldn’t play for maybe 10 of 11 weeks and wasn’t fully fit for the rest of the year really. It was so disappointing. I feel like I would have made the 2017 Walker Cup if I had stayed fit. But it has made this time round even more special.”

Indeed, there is much to look forward to for the man who calls himself “an old-fashioned amateur.” Maybe for the first time he has found true happiness both on and off the course. In so many ways, within a Walker Cup team packed with stand-out golfers, Stuart Grehan stands out.