Noted for his independency, for being forthright and frank but ever supportive of the game of golf, McEvoy could have become a professional –

‘I was tempted. The nearest I got to it was in 1979 when I was 17th in the Open. I was just completing my solicitor’s articles and playing lots of golf – Amateur Champion in two of the previous three years.

‘I didn’t in the end because of the circumstances back then. The rewards were never as great as they are now. No one ever gave a player money to turn professional back then.

‘Having played an awful lot of golf, that stopped when business interests made my life too busy.

What of today’s game of golf and the players that McEvoy watches?

‘They have gotten very strong. The Clubheads are so forgiving nowadays. A young kid goes about it in a very different way to my era. They can now get away with much more – they need only to think about creating speed compared with the more precise movements that we had to in my era.

‘I do play with the squads in practise but I struggle. I hit the ball the same distances I used to – technology hasn’t given me any more length – though in a four ball I still pull my weight.’

There has been significant success for English golf in the past few weeks, notably with the performance of Paul Casey and Luke Donald in the World Cup. There is a new plan for the future of the game, ‘Vision of England golf’, with a partnership between the EGU, ELGA and the PGA – what does McEvoy think of what can be achieved?

‘The immediate future is very good – Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Ian Poulter in the professional game – and now James Heath and Sam Osborne. It’s a vintage generation, a great period of prosperity. For Casey and Donald, its time to move up into contention in Majors, something they should have perhaps started two years ago.

‘The “Vision” plan will depend on how well it is rolled out as to how well it will work. Implementation is everything. I would though have liked to seen it (the plan) presented by a unified body.’

McEvoy has just become involved with a new company which is designing and building very special golf courses, ones which take only an hour to play and in their six holes, giving golfers the opportunity to play some of the great holes in golf. Its just another step in a career as a golf architect over the period when technology has come to dominate design principles.

‘I do think the game has become less challenging from tee to green. Since the conception of the game, greens have become more benign.

There is a notable example of what can be done in the work the McEvoy did at Douglas Golf Club, on the outskirts of Cork. Douglas is a member’s course which now possesses greens with roll and swales that are more akin to say St Andrews than the flatter greens that became prevalent after World War II.

‘That lack of equipment during that period saw greens become flatter and flatter. There is also the element of getting people round a course.

‘As the long game becomes more uniform I believe in putting more movement into putting surfaces, really testing the short game. I’m not alone with the likes of Donald Steele and Pete Dye with similar attitudes in their new designs.

‘You can create any contour you like!’

As Chairman of Selectors for the Walker Cup team, Peter has access to the best in the amateur game and has seen some of his charges go on to great things. There are many amateurs who have turned professional and not had any sort of success. I ask him if he has any specific guidelines that he offers the aspiring amateur –

‘It depends what sort of Professional they want to be. If it’s joining the PGA then they only have to fulfil the requirements – what is it, a handicap of 4?

‘To turn Professional and go on Tour – there is a finite demand for Tournament Professionals. It’s very hard to break into the money winners. A couple of years ago I did an analysis of the numbers of past amateurs who were making a reasonable living on the European Tour. There were one and a half players per age across a 20-year gap (from 25 to 45) who were successful.

‘Unless you are dominant in Amateur golf, I have told many people that they will not make it. (Sam) Osborne and (James) Heath have a very good chance.

‘Golf is a game which can flatter to deceive. It’s evident that players who perform every now and then can achieve a plus handicap. It’s creating a false talent or hope.

‘I think Golf needs to look at itself – is the balance correct, between the Amateur and Professional game?

In Part II of this interview, to be published in the week after Christmas, Peter McEvoy goes much further in his analysis of the opportunities as a Professional, he talks of the pressure and the personalities of the players making the headlines, the work behind the scenes for the Walker Cup and then reminisces about the shot in his career which ‘got away’ and the best golf he has ever seen.