Windy Week In New Mexico Could Prove Useful For USA Team

By Beth Murrison, USGA

St. Andrews, Scotland – Who could have imagined a week in New Mexico would serve as a good weather test for several members of the 2008 USA Curtis Cup team prior to leaving for Scotland?

But that’s exactly what happened, as five members of the United States squad – Amanda Blumenherst, Tiffany Joh, Stacy Lewis, Jennie Lee and Alison Walshe – all played in extremely windy conditions at the University of New Mexico’s Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque for the 2008 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship last week. The second round had to be postponed due to gusty conditions that caused balls to roll off the green. It was one of several blustery days during the championship.

Blumenherst, the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up, and Joh visited the media center at St. Andrews Wednesday and talked about how the weather in New Mexico has provided some unexpected side benefits.

“The conditions actually were quite similar to what we have today and for the last two days,” said Blumenherst, the three-time U.S. national collegiate player of the year who finished tied for fifth in New Mexico last week. “Coming into it, we were a little bit more prepared than we thought we'd be, just having the last week of practice in really tough wind, and it rained, as well.”

Joh, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion who was the individual runner-up at last week’s national championship, agreed.

“Nationals definitely helped us out a lot,” said Joh, a San Diego, Calif., native who is playing in her first Curtis Cup Match. “It's funny because last week when we were at nationals we were all upset and disappointed that we had all these wind and weather delays, but we didn't actually know that it was going to help us in preparation for this week.”

Blumenherst and her Duke teammate, Jennie Lee, both played on the 2006 USA Curtis Cup team that won at Pacific Dunes, a links-style course on the southwest Oregon coastl, but they are the only two USA teammates with traditional links experience. Although no one on the USA’s eight-member team had previously played in Scotland, USA captain Carol Semple Thompson doesn’t see that as a disadvantage.

“My players are so good that they've been able to adapt quite nicely, and I think they really have made an effort to keep the ball on the ground, so to speak, and I think they're adapting well,” said Thompson, who played at St. Andrews in 1975 for the Ladies’ British Open Amateur. “I suppose it is some disadvantage, but I really don't expect it to be too much of a problem.”

The good news for Thompson and her team is that none of the five players who competed last week in New Mexico finished outside the top 30. In addition to top-five finishes by Joh and Blumenherst, Lewis, the 2007 NCAA champion, tied for eighth, Lee tied for 15th and Walshe tied for 28th.

But the weather figures to be a factor for both sides, and the Great Britain & Ireland squad hopes to use it to its advantage. In fact, GB&I team captain Mary McKenna is hoping for some inclement weather.

“I would like a little bit of rain,” said McKenna, a nine-time Curtis Cupper. “I like the wind, and I think the girls would probably like a little bit of wind, as well. I think this is no advantage to anybody.”

Particularly after the USA's blustery week in New Mexico.

Beth Murrison is a manager of media relations for the United States Golf Association. Contact her at bmurrison@usga.org with questions or comments.