USA Curtis Cup Team Boasts Talented Mix

By Stuart Hall

When the United States of America Curtis Cup team arrives in St. Andrews, Scotland, for the 35th Match, it will be one of the most diverse groups of female amateurs ever assembled.

Among the eight-member squad who will face Great Britain and Ireland on the Old Course May 30-June 1 are two teenaged prep stars, an Irish-born player who has competed for three colleges, a New Jersey native who found a home in the deep South, two collegiate teammates who can take a third under their wings a few months before she steps onto campus and an amateur who was the clubhouse leader of an LPGA tournament that was eventually wiped off the books.

Meghan Bolger, playing in her first Curtis Cup Match, is a two-time USGA champion who has also played in two U.S. Women's Open Championships. (John Mummert/USGA)

For sure, this will be an eclectic mix of personalities, but make no mistake about the common thread that ties them together — they all have serious golf games.

Sixteen-year old Kimberly Kim and 18-year-old Mina Harigae both have USGA national titles on their résumés — and not of the junior variety. Kim’s victory at the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur made her the youngest winner in the 108-year history of the championship, while Harigae is the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion. Meanwhile, the elder stateswoman of the team, Meghan Bolger, 29, is the reigning two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion who served as the coach of the University of Mississippi for six seasons.

But the engine of Captain Carol Semple Thompson’s team will likely be comprised of a quintet of college players: Amanda Blumenherst and Jennie Lee (Duke), Stacy Lewis (Arkansas), Alison Walshe (Arizona) and Tiffany Joh (UCLA).

In September, Lewis shot a 65 to lead the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship through one round. But when rains washed out the remaining 36 holes, the LPGA could not declare it an official event or even an unofficial event.

It was all for naught except for what Lewis gained.

"Probably just more confidence that I can play with the best players in the world, and I can beat 143 of the best players in the world on one day," said Lewis, who five months earlier tied for fifth at the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship to earn low-amateur honors.

	Top U.S.collegians Stacy Lewis, left, and Amanda Blumenherst will lead the USA team in the 2008 Curtis Cup Match at St. Andrews. (John Mummert/USGA)

No doubt the 22-year-old Lewis, who won the 2007 NCAA Division I individual title, could easily calculate the earnings she has bypassed by remaining an amateur through the Curtis Cup, but what’s the rush for a player with such immense talent.

The same goes for Blumenherst, 21, a two-time national collegiate player of the year who has won three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference individual titles, was the runner-up at last year’s Women’s Amateur and has earned low-amateur honors at both the U.S. Women’s Open and Kraft Nabisco Championship. Despite her success, she has steadfastly maintained she will remain at Duke for four years.

"Golf you do for however long you really want, so when I think of leaving school or turning pro, you're only going to be in college for four years, which really isn't that long of a time," said Blumenherst, who, along with Lee, both played on the USA’s victorious Curtis Cup team in 2006. "I can be out on tour for however long as I want, so I believe taking the fundamental steps like going to college is such an important part of your life that you really don't want to rush."

And then there is the Walshe’s nomadic tale.

The 22-year-old was born in Galway, Ireland, grew up in Massachusetts and has dual citizenship. Collegiately, she started at Boston College, transferred to Tulane and then wound up at the University of Arizona after Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans and forced Tulane to cancel its golf programs. She’s earned all-conference honors at all three schools.

US captain Carol Semple Thompson chats with two members of the USA team during the squad's practice session. (John Mummert/USGA)

Walshe, a senior, missed the cut at the 2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship – her first taste of the LPGA Tour – but came away undaunted.

"Hopefully this is just the beginning," she said.

That it’s a beginning does not appear to an issue. Nor does it appear one for Joh, a two-time All-American at UCLA. Joh, the 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion, became the first Bruin in 20 years to make a Curtis Cup team.

No doubt Thompson’s job will be made easier by the competitive desires of those playing for the USA at St. Andrews.

“I don't get the sense that they're scared of anything,” said Semple Thompson, who played in the 1975 Ladies British Open Amateur Championship contested over the Old Course at St. Andrews. “They have all this experience behind them and I think they can handle almost anything that is thrown at them.”

Stuart Hall is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usga.org.