It's Sunday morning and the singles matches begin in just a few hours. Starting yesterday with a one point lead, GBI must have had high hopes for the day. But when the Americans started off birdie-birdie-birdie in the first match, the GBI team never bounced back as the USA swept all six matches to take an 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 lead going into the final day.
The USA needs only 1 1/2 points out of a possible 8 points to retain the Cup, and 2 points to win the Match outright. The GBI fans who had made the long trek were still vocal yesterday in cheering on their team even when things looked bleak. Several walked the course with Union Jack or Irish flags draped like Superman capes around their necks. Others wore slightly more understated but still very patriotic hats or sweaters.
All the folks whom I've met from the UK have been extremely nice people. They are all fans of the game. Many who made the trip are either friends or family of the competitors or past players. Still others are just fans of amateur golf. Sometimes over the last few days the matches have seemed secondary. The Curtis Cup feels like a celebration of amateur golf or even a celebration of the game itself played in its most pure form.
The Curtis Cup record is tilted well in favor of the USA which holds a 26-6-3 record. I'm sure that no one within the USGA would say it publicly, but I think it might be nice for the health of the Match if the GBI team took a coupleof these in the coming years. Make no mistake, these GBI girls are very good players, but their top couple of players are probably just a step or two behind our top couple and the USA depth chart goes a little deeper as well.
It's still a wonderful competition and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. I know I am. I had a less stressful duty yesterday as an Observer in an afternoon match. I was ahead in the drive zone and then up by the green on each hole. I never saw the players up close after cursory greetings on the 1st tee. My job was to help referee, Sarah Haas, with locating golf balls and alerting her of potential Rules situations. There were a few instances where I was able to do just that. Otherwise it was a nice walk in the park, a few times late in the day having to put up the umbrella. For the record our match featured reigning US Women's Amateur champion, Jennifer Song and her partner Stephanie Kono defeating Hannah Barwood and Holly Clyburn by a 3-1 margin.
I'm refereeing the 12:00PM match today so I'd better get ready.
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