Fresh Air and Light
By Rhonda Glenn, USGA
Marlene Stewart Streit, a U.S. Women's Amateur champion, says that golf is
the friends you make along the way.
In thinking of friends, mine are mostly golfers. A couple of U.S. Women's Amateur
Champions I've known for more than 40 years, some past Curtis Cup players of
whom I'm very fond, some USGA officials I began to know in my years as a volunteer,
the club players with whom I play today. And it's fun to meet the brilliant
young players who are coming along. All golfers. All nice people. Friends along
the way.
I remember once playing against a good friend in the final of a national championship.
"I wish it could be a tie," I told some reporters. It wasn't. She killed me.
We remained friends until our lives took different directions.
I encountered a Curtis Cup player when I was 16. When we finished our match,
she gently told me that I had made an improper drop on one hole. She could have
called the hole on me, but she didn't. I will always remember that, and her.
A lifelong amateur, I was paired in a couple of LPGA tournaments with some
of golf's greatest players. At 19, I played with Mickey Wright in the St. Petersburg
tournament. I was nervous, not a lot, but a little bit. Mickey, whose record
as a golfer is unsurpassed, is also a generous human being. She chatted with
me on the first tee, asked me about school and my family. She never failed to
say, "Good shot," when it was appropriate. I had the good fortune to be paired
with Patty Berg toward the end of her playing days, and shared pairings with
Betsy Rawls, Carol Mann and Sandra Haynie. They were pleasant and kind and I
admired them for that.
Not everyone in golf gets along well. A recent story recalling some of the
great rivalries in women's golf, by Ken Klavon, appeared on this site. Most
of those rivalries were friendly, but some were bitter.
That's why this week's interviews with Hilary Lunke and Angela Stanford, playing
together in today's final pairing, seemed to breathe fresh air into this 2003
championship.
As USA Curtis Cup players they were roommates at the 2000 match. These two
graduates of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship haven't played
together much in recent years, but they once shared the battles of international
competition together and that bond remains strong.
"I'm thrilled to be playing with Angela," Hilary said. "My husband was saying
to me walking off the 18th fairway (Saturday), 'Let's just hope Angela
pars the last hole, so we play with her tomorrow.' And she did. It's great to
see."
"I'm excited...I'll get to play with her," said Angela. "I think that will
help a little bit. That should be more comfortable. She played at Stanford while
I played at TCU. We played on the Curtis Cup team together. So I've seen her
throughout college golf and amateur golf. I know she's really nice."
Hilary said, "She (Angela) inspired me so much with her play last week, and
the fact that she came out and won and was such a gracious winner...and we're
going to have a great time tomorrow."
Then Angela said of Hilary, "She's got a great family and (she's) just a great
person. So it will be fun either way, whatever happens tomorrow, it will be
fun to get to play in that final round with her."
Hilary and Angela teed off together at 12 noon PDT as the final pairing at
the 58th United States Women's Open.
Angela had said, "I hope that when I say that I'll be comfortable playing with
her, I hope it's the same for her. I hope she's comfortable playing with me."
In a day when big time sports are more competitive than ever, when incidents
and stories cloud what should be our most wholesome endeavors, it's good to
open the windows and let in a bit of light. It's good to see two people playing
their hearts out for one of the prizes they most want and enjoying each other's
companionship every step of the way.
Rhonda Glenn is the USGA Manager of Communications. E-mail her
at rglenn@usga.org
with questions or comments.
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