Youth not a burden for USA squad
When the United States of America’s Curtis Cup team was named earlier this year, it may have come as a surprise that the team consisted of no one with Curtis Cup experience and team members had an average age just more than 18 years old.
But the team’s youth and lack of experience was no cause for concern for USA captain Martha Wilkinson Kirouac, of Georgia, the 1970 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and a veteran of the 1970 and 1972 Curtis Cups Matches.
"These are very experienced competitors in spite of their youth," said Kirouac. "The competitive opportunities available today far exceed anything that my generation even dreamed of, and the result is that it is possible to become a very proficient, tournament-tough player at a young age."
Captain Martha Kirouac (back left) stands with the members of the 2004 USA Curtis Cup team.
The team’s youngest member is 14-year-old Michelle Wie of Hawaii, who in 2003 became the youngest to ever capture an "adult" USGA championship with her victory in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. She has played in a PGA Tour event and in several women’s major championships, including a fourth-place finish at the LPGA’s 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
While Wie is the highest-profile member of the USA squad, the others have more than proven themselves. Two of her fellow teenagers on the team, Californians Paula Creamer, 17, and Jane Park, 17, were U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinalists in 2003 (Park the eventual runner-up) who teamed to win the 2003 Spirit International for the USA. Eighteen-year-old Brittany Lang of Texas captured two of America’s most prestigious amateur competitions, the Women’s Western Amateur and the North and South Women’s Amateur, back to back in 2003 before earning NCAA All-American first-team and Freshman of the Year honors in 2004.
The team’s fifth teenager, Erica Blasberg, 19, of California, is one of two talented college sophomores on the team, joined by Liz Janangelo, 20, of Connecticut. Both earned first-team All-America honors as freshmen and sophomores and have captured their respective state amateurs – in Janangelo’s case an impressive five times. Blasberg was the 2003 NCAA Freshman of the Year, while Janangelo took the nod as 2004NCAA Player of the Year.
The elder stateswoman of the team, Sarah Huarte, is a 22-year-old Californian who won the 2004 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship and the 2003 South Atlantic Ladies Amateur, while Utah’s Annie Thurman, 21, captured the 2002 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the 2004 Big 12 Conference Championship.
It is the first time in Match history that the USA does not have a mid-amateur (age 25 or older) player on its squad, a fact Kirouac believes her team will quickly make people forget.
"I think that those who are fortunate enough to meet these young people will be impressed with their maturity, poise and wonderful spirit, both on the course and off," she said. "They are very personable and just plain fun to be around, and I believe the age questions will go away very quickly once people get to know these players."
No matter what the age of the team, the mission is the same.
"Returning the Cup to American soil is very important and the many players we represent in this effort are depending on us to get the job done," said Kirouac. "Equally important, however, is that the team members fulfill the mission of the Curtis Cup in creating new international friendships that are based on the solid footing of good sportsmanship in this great game."
A version of this story, which was written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations, appears in the 2004 Curtis Cup Match program. Contact Beth with questions or comments at bmurrison@usga.org
