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August 3, 2002
((2002 Curtis Cup Match
Fox Chapel Golf Club
GB&I TEAM
RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, Captain Benka, Rebecca Hudson who had a victory other Emily Bastel and Vikki Laing who had a one-up victory over Mollie Frankhauser. First of all, kind of a tough day out there. I heard your players showed some brilliant play around the greens and some brilliant bunker shots. Some of the matches were pretty close, but overall, how did you feel about the day.
CAPTAIN BENKA: Well, we did come second today. It was the Foursomes, really, when we got -- I got it wrong. Well, I obviously did get it wrong that's why we are 3 love down. We nearly won. Vikki and Heather were so close. It was a lovely birdie they made after the last. That made a distance in that match. If we made the birdie it would have been 2-1 instead of 3-love. That got us off to a poor start. And we were always on the back foot really trying to play catchup. And Rebecca was charging around like a wonderful kid she is, and she's a little longer than we would have liked, but to get the one point on the board and felt much better when that went up. Lots of people had their chances. I don't know whether we didn't hole our share of putts or whether we missed too many greens. I mean, at the end of the day, we didn't score very well. So I think that's the proof of the pudding, if you actually look at our figures, I think that's what we have got to try and do tomorrow is actually produce better figures.
RHONDA GLENN: How will today's circumstances affect the way that you have paired your players for tomorrow?
CAPTAIN BENKA: We've changed it slightly. The fact they are the same players but in a different order.
RHONDA GLENN: Different pairings?
CAPTAIN BENKA: Different pairings, yes. Just to see if that does something. They are not all -- Vikki and Heather are still together. We can't part the Scotts. Nobody can understand what they say, so -- (laughter) --
We are just going to go out there tomorrow and see what we can do, you know, obviously we're a bit fed up with what's happened toady, but you won't change today, but we can certainly change tomorrow.
RHONDA GLENN: Was there a nervousness element you think more so from being the visiting team?
CAPTAIN BENKA: No, I don't think so. I think everybody was up for it, confidence to start with, I don't know, ask the girls. But I didn't feel that and I think everybody was ready to go and couldn't wait to get on the golf course this morning, just to get out there. But just, you know, just seemed yes, the times when -- I think sometimes when we won a hole instead of getting on the tee and shoveling straight down the middle we tended to get on the tee and put it in the bunker or something and let them back in again. Those are the things that, you know, that happen in golf. We seemed to be on the wrong side of it today.
RHONDA GLENN: There's a tide in Match Play and it turns at the most amazing moments sometimes. Questions.
Q. Are you looking for someone to make sort of a speech (Inaudible) --
CAPTAIN BENKA: Well, John, would you like to come and deliver it? I don't know. Yeah, I think we'll get in there. There's no point in going over and saying, oh, it's appalling and reading the riot act, everybody did their darndest out there and it just didn't work out. But I think if we look at it clinically and why are we so badly off, in fact, they are all much better golfers than the figures that they produced today. And that's the bottom line. Unfortunately we can't fudge that, that's up on the scoreboard.
Q. There was quite a rally two years ago at Ganton...
CAPTAIN PAM BENKA: Oh, we have every intention of doing the same.
RHONDA GLENN: Rebecca, give us a little summary of your match and I know you got off to a brilliant start and then things started to get tighter and tighter. Tell us how the match started to change.
REBECCA HUDSON: 4-up after 9, hit a really good shot into 10, pitched a foot from the pin, too much club, it didn't hold like I had been doing and went off the back didn't get up-and-down. Difficult shot. Just that was the wrong clubbing. 11 I wrong-clubbed as well. It went to the bunker so I lost those two. 12 we halved in par. I won 13. We both (inaudible) on 14 to get up-and-down, I didn't. That took it back to 3. We halved 15 so 3 to play. It was okay so far. 16 the pin is back left. Hit 3-wood in, I am struggling with the length on that hole. So I just got it on the front right edge and I 3-putt. Left myself a pretty tricky putt. 17 the pin is just over the ridge on the right, I kind of pulled my driver and I end up on the back left, so I have a pretty difficult putt again and ended up 3-putting that hole.
So although, yes, I was 5 up, I think in a way I kind of just relaxed a bit instead of okay, come on, let's get this finished. The holes that I lost, I didn't really -- I can see why I lost them and it wasn't 16 and 17, I am not really that disappointed because the way -- where I was on the green they were difficult spots. I could have 2-putted; also could have 3-putted. 18, I played well, solid 5 she had to make 4. I didn't think where she put the second shot she was going to make 4 from there. So I was quite happy.
RHONDA GLENN: Your team had concentrated on the last three holes. Obviously the last holes are the keys to these matches. American Team has been concentrating on the last six holes. You explained what happened to you on the last 3 but obviously we're going to have some real dogfights at the end of these matches from both sides.
REBECCA HUDSON: Yeah, actually I think the back nine we seemed to have been getting to the turn quite well. Our back nines haven't been very good. 10, 11, 12, (inaudible) 260. We haven't been getting to 60. I think -- I don't think the scores on those holes have been as good as they should have been.
RHONDA GLENN: Vikki, your outlook on that.
VIKKI LAING: I think she's absolutely right. I know myself that I start to let it go a little bit on 16, 17 those last couple of holes, but you need to get to 16, 17 again I was the same on 16, I was on the green to the right. Left the putt a long way short, 3-putted. 17, kind of in between clubs for myself. Sort of choking a 3-wood. I (inaudible) took a 3-wood this afternoon, tried to choke up on it. Chunked it a little bit. Put it in the bunker and didn't get up-and-down. Yeah, I think it is a fair comment we need to concentrate a little on the last six holes --especially back nine - front nine is fine, if we could just start the back nine the way we started the front nine, stay focused the entire game, there's no reason why we shouldn't put some points on the board.
Q. How exhausting is a day like this when your team isn't doing well and it is pretty hot?
VIKKI LAING: It's pretty hot, yeah. (Laughs).
Yeah, I mean, it's exhausting. It doesn't matter what the score is. You are out there and trying your hardest. I think when it's as hot as this, it just makes it ten times harder, but that just means you have got to focused 10 times harder than that. So if you stay focused, keep yourself cool, keep drinking, water in your face, around your neck, keep the sun tan lotion on, it's fine. I don't think that was a problem.
RHONDA GLENN: What did you say?
REBECCA HUDSON: I said on the course you are fine it's when you stop playing, like when you stopped this afternoon it is like oh, finished. Then on the course don't feel it whatsoever, we're drinking, eating, we're doing all the right physical things.
RHONDA GLENN: Plans for tomorrow from each of you.
CAPTAIN PAM BENKA: Well, it's really luckily up to them. I could only be there to encourage and hope that I get -- I get the Foursomes a bit better organized than I did today and the singles in the same way. The girls will try their hearts out and that's all the Captain can ask really. We're just going to give it a good go.
Q. Can you talk to us about them? Have you told your team?
CAPTAIN PAM BENKA: I have really just put it in. I haven't told the girls really yet. Should I tell them?
Q. Otherwise we have to come back.
CAPTAIN PAM BENKA: The first pair are going to be Vikki and Heather. Second pair Rebecca and Kerry. The third pair Emma and Alison.
Q. Vikki and Rebecca please you are down 7 to 2. What are you telling yourself right now?
REBECCA HUDSON: I am just going to say like we were so close to bringing it back to Ganton. We can do it. Ganton we made the 2-1 start in the Foursomes. We got to go out there, we've got to win three foursomes, simple as that. We've just got to go out there and get the points on the board. I think me playing at Ganton and being 7-2 down it was so close to bringing it back and it came down to, I think, it was the fourth Singles match in the end. We know we can do it. We just got to play the golf that we can play. We don't have to do anything special. We don't have to turn into superwomen. We just have to play golf like we can and like what we have done to get on the team. We don't need to prove anything now.
VIKKI LAING: I think basically we know what we have to do tomorrow. We just have to stay focused. I think actually it could help us being down. Everyone knows what they've got to do. There's no question about this, that; we have to go out and win it from the first hole onwards, first and second keep going. I think if we stay focused and perform like we're capable of doing, there's no reason why we shouldn't win every single match tomorrow.
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