Curtis Cup Day 1

After all the build up that culminated with the opening ceremony on Thursday, it was finally time to play some golf. I arrived at the course at about 8:30 and in plenty of time to see the first tee shots. Even though my refereeing duties didn't begin until 2:20, I wanted to see the first shots struck at the Curtis Cup - an historical event given the fact that 1938 was last time the Curtis Cup was held at Essex County Club.

There was a big crowd surrounding the roped-off first tee, under sunny skys for the first time n a couple of days. Almost all the USA players were sporting the red, white and blue in the form of temporary ankle or face tattoos. Between the red, white and blue ribbons in their hair and the sporty unifoms all our girls looked very sharp. The GBI girls' uniforms were a lot more modest by contrast, pretty understated. But the important thing was that we were playing golf and all the girls marched off the first tee to resounding cheers from fans from both sides of the pond.

It was almost five hours until my scheduled tee time, but I had too much nervous energy to go to spectate. I ate a little breakfast, cleared out all my emails from the Blackberry and made a few phone calls. I read through the notebook that was given to each Rules official at the previous afternoon's meeting. I read the Local Rules Sheet - 'Notice to Competitors' as the USGA likes to call it. I chatted with Dave Miller, Mimi Henderson and Liz Frem, all Rules Officials from Mass. I think we were all a little keyed up.

There was a large screen TV in the tent next to the club house. Over lunch we watched the Golfchannel telecast which aired from 11-1. The morning foursome matches were very close. Each match ended halved, meaning all three went the full18 holes with each match finishing all square and each team awarded a half point.

Finally it was show time. I picked up my radio in the USGA office and headed over to the first tee. After introducing myself to the players I met the walking scorer, marshall and standard bearers. At 2:20 the GBI team was announced and Sally Watson (age 18 from Ireland) and Lisa Maguire (age 15 from Scotland) teed off. Next up were their USA opponents, Jessica Korda (age 17 from Bradenton, FL and still in high school) and Tiffany Lua (age 19, the elder stateswoman in the group and player for UCLA). They each hit nice drives and we were off to the races. It was a little disconcertaining when I realized I'm old enough to be the father of all 16 players in the Match.

I had two Observer officials with me, Cece Durbin and Ede Rice, both mebers of the USGA Women's Committee and seasoned Rules Officials in their own right. It was reassuring to have these two ladies out ahead of me to spot golf balls in the drive zone or near the green and be able to alert me to any problems ahead of time. Fortunately there were no major Rules incidents. I had a ball embedded, a ball in a water hazard and a player standing in casual water int he rough. Thankfully pretty basic stuff.

I was having a major panic walking down the first fairway, though, as I tried to figure out who was who in the group and wondering how I am going to keep track of all strokes for all players. I wrote a couple of notes on my official score card: 'glasses' next to Lisa Maguire and 'blond' next to Jessica Korda. I put little dots on the score card for each player after each made a stroke. It took me a few holes to get into a flow but I finally calmed down. What never seemed to calm down was players asking me, 'Mr. Referee, who's away?' It happened in the first fairway, on the first green and seemingly on every hole. And many were very close. But I usually took a couple of quick looks and decisively pointed to a player. I think I had more requests to detemine who was away in one round then I've had in the last 10 years combined.

I tried to make light on the third green when I was asked again who's away. 'You girls are making me work awfully hard for this early in the round?' Silence. OK, I guess I won't be attempting any more comic relief for a while. I basically tried to stay out of their way and not speak to them unless they asked. Easy for an old caddy like me. At the conclusion of each hole I announced the status of the match: 'Great Britain and Ireland 4, United States of America 4. The match is all square', or whatever it may have been at the time.

The match was very close with GBI holding a 1 up lead for mcuh of the day. The USA squared the match on the back nine and then GBI went ahead with a late birdie. The GBI girls were 1 up and dormie with one to play. All the other matches had ended so were were it standing on 18 in the long shadows and fading sun. There was a big crowd walking with us and behind 18 green. I took another sip of water and walked down the hill off the tee. All the players were safely in play. When they got around the green, yes, you guessed it, I had to determine who was away. It was a real nail biter as Lisa Maguire had to sink a knee-knocker of a three-footer for par to secure the 1 up victory.

Big cheers went up from the GBI fans and players. I shook hands with and congratulated all four players for a great match. I had a lot of fun out there, but it was probably the most challenging round of officiating I had ever had. Can't wait to do it again.