Saturday Notebook: USA Players Savoring St. Andrews Moments

By Beth Murrison

St. Andrews, Scotland – Playing the 18th hole of the Old Course at St. Andrews is special no matter what the circumstances.

Imagine doing it in front of several thousand people.

That was the scenario for the USA’s Amanda Blumenherst and Tiffany Joh Saturday morning, as they approached the final green in their match against the Great Britain & Ireland’s Liz Bennett and Jodi Ewart.

Blumenherst is no stranger to playing in front of large crowds, having competed in several professional events, including two U.S. Women’s Opens and the LPGA Kraft Nabisco, where she was low amateur in 2008. But even she found the experience amazing.

“I definitely have never experienced anything like it,” said Blumenherst, who earned low-amateur honors at the 2006 Women’s Open and was the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up. “At the Opens, there are quite a few people but they really aren’t there to watch you. They’re there to watch the leaders. Here, all these people are just watching four girls come up 18 and that’s just amazing. It’s a great feeling. It’s definitely nerve-wracking. But every golfer growing up dreams of having this opportunity and having that feeling.”

Blumenherst did her best to take advantage of the moment, hitting a brilliant approach shot to 15 feet of the flagstick. Joh missed the birdie putt but the teammates were still able to earn a critical half-point.

Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe had yet to play No. 18 through the first three rounds of matches. But in their afternoon four-ball (better-ball) match, they finally got the chance and were sure to savor the moment, even though the crowd had diminished from in the morning.

“We talked about it this morning because neither of our matches had gone to 18,” said Lewis. “So we were walking over the bridge and were saying, whether we win or lose, this whole area, and having everybody watching is pretty cool.”

Lewis and Walshe, who held a 1-up lead, sweated out birdie putts by their GB&I opponents before earning a narrow victory.

A New Putter?

Mina Harigae hadn’t used her rescue club much on the Old Course at St. Andrews during the first few rounds.

Mina Harigae putts with her rescue club Saturday afternoon. (Matthew Harris/USGA)

She got her chance Saturday afternoon.

After three-putting the 11th green during her four-ball match against Carly Booth and Breanne Loucks, the 18-year-old from Monterey, Calif., expressed a little frustration the same way she often does – by gently kicking her putter.

The result, however, was unexpected.

“I kick my putter a lot, but I’ve never actually kicked that particular putter and I guess it was softer than my other ones and it just bent,” said Harigae, the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion. “I was really surprised because that’s never happened to me before.”

So she employed a two-club replacement system, using the rescue club for longer putts and her sand wedge for the shorter ones. The match was all square when she lost the use of her putter, but she and 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kimberly Kim managed a 2-and-1 victory.

USA Team Manager Donna Mummert brought the damaged putter to a clubfitter along the Old Course’s driving range. It has been fixed and will be back in Harigae’s bag for her singles match Sunday morning.

Nevertheless, Kim had a little fun at her expense.

“She’s the only one who got the true St. Andrews experience – rolling it everywhere,” said Kim with a laugh.

Even Harigae saw some upside.

“I was really embarrassed,” she said. “But the best players know how to hit a lot of shots so at least I have this as good practice.”

Quoteables:

“I thought that was in. It looked dead center to us.” – Lewis, about the 18-foot birdie putt by GB&I’s Florentyna Parker on the 18th hole. Parker’s putt missed, allowing the USA duo of Lewis and Alison Walshe to escape with a 1-up four-balls win Saturday afternoon.

“The girls just played their hearts out. The golf has been tremendous, it really has. The Americans are good and we know that. We very, very nearly matched them. So I'm very proud of the girls. I really am.” – GB&I Captain Mary McKenna about her team.

“I think playing at St. Andrews is probably the most special thing that I can think of. I love my team. Of course, I loved my team two years ago. We giggled and laughed a lot two years ago. We're certainly giggling and laughing a lot this year. It's a wonderful group of young women. Being with them for a week has been tremendous. But the venue, there's nothing like St. Andrews and links golf, I think.” – USA Captain Carol Semple Thompson when asked to compare this year’s USA team to the team she captained at the 2006 Curtis Cup Match at Pacific Dunes, another picturesque links-style course along the southwest coast of Oregon.

Beth Murrison is a manager in media relations for the USGA. E-mail her with questions or comments at bmurrison@usga.org.