Open Field Boasted Of Curtis Cup Team Members

By Tom Hanson

Curtis Cup Team Member, Meredith Duncan.(Pam Murphy/USGA)

Hutchinson, Kan -- Last week, the 2002 United States Curtis Cup team got together for a little practice at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., but it turned out to be a wonderful warm-up for this week's U.S. Women's Open.

U.S. Captain Dr. Mary Budke assembled the team to prepare for the Aug. 3-4 matches against Great Britain and Ireland. This get-to-know-each-other week also helped the seven college players and one-career amateur get ready for the demands of Prairie Dunes Country Club.

"It was a great tune-up for this week," said Meredith Duncan, the 2001 U.S. Women's Amateur Champion. "Fox Chapel featured tight fairways, thick rough and fast greens. There is no place where I normally play where I can find those kind of conditions."

Duncan heads a youth movement in this international competition that was started in 1932 by Harriot and Margaret Curtis, sisters who combined for four U.S. Women's Amateur titles. In years past, the American squad had been peppered with seasoned veterans but the 32nd edition will look more like a college sorority party.

Joining Duncan (LSU) are Emily Bastel (Michigan State); Mollie Fankhauser (Ohio State University); Lee Ann Hardin (Duke); Angela Jerman (Georgia); Laura Myerscough (Arizona) and Courtney Swaim, (Auburn). While the eighth member, 53-year-old Carol Semple Thompson, helps increase the average age, a squad filled with MTV-watching-e-mailing young ladies is just a sign of the times.

"This is a growing trend that you are seeing in women's golf," said Bastel, a 21 year old from Upper Sandusky, Ohio. "Look, I am not even the youngest person in the U.S. Open. You are seeing more and more girls pick up the game at an earlier age and this in turn is making the competition younger."

What these young ladies may lack in experience they make up for with

Leigh Anne Hardin during round two.(Pam Murphy/ (USGA)

confidence. Fankhauser is quick to point out that they are all No.1 players on their respective squads and have won numerous tournaments. Her point was well taken considering that Hardin (1998 U.S. Girls' Junior) and Duncan have USGA championships to their credit and that Hardin and Jerman played on NCAA championship teams. Myerscough redshirted the year Arizona won an NCAA title (2000).

"We may be young but we can play," said Fankhauser from Dublin, Ohio. "Collectively we have won several big tournaments and winning breeds confidence."

If this is indeed the USGA's newest sorority, then Thompson is definitely the housemother.

The 11-time member of the Curtis Cup jumped right into the role last week inviting the entire team to her home in nearby Sewickley, Pa., for a dinner. Even though Thompson has played in more U.S Women's Opens (32) than her fellow teammates combined, the age difference didn't cause any uncomfortable moments.

"They were great last week, I don't recall any of them calling me Miss Thompson," said Thompson, who is the three-time defending USGA Senior Women's Amateur champion. "I'm just excited about being a part of this talented group of women. They make me feel young again."

Her teammates feel that Thompson, who has 16 Curtis Cup victories in combined play, is the ideal veteran to lead the USA to its third straight title.

"She fits in perfectly," said Duncan, who calls her "Miss Carol" out of respect. "She is young at heart and I think we could learn a thing or two from her."

Besides the dinner, the team practiced on the course and actually competed against a team comprised of the best men's players at the club. Most important, the eight were able to form a bond that will hopefully lead them to victory.

"It's was a great chance to get to know everyone," said Bastel. "We had all played against each other for years but we really didn't know each other. In the end, this should make us a stronger team."

Hanson, a caddie on the LPGA Tour, is a freelance writer.