A Great Few Days at Essex CC Wraps Up

I have to admit I was sad to see it come to an end. My first Curtis Cup was a special experience. I think it was special for everyone who was involved including the spectators who were treated to some excellent golf from these 16 young women. I bumped into some people I knew who thought they'd just come out to see what the Curtis Cup was about. They were amazed at the level of play. And to be honest, so was I. I knew that these girls were good, but to see them up close gave me a fuller appreciation of just how good.

Despite all the hype that surrounds Alexis Thompson (and make no mistake, she is the real deal), I think the player who impressed me the most was Jessica Korda. She attends Bradenton Prep Academy in Florida and just turned 17 this past February. She's tall, blond and attractive, but it's her long, fluid swing that most impresses. She generates so much power and speed in her swing that she was consistently 30-40 yards ahead of the other three players in the four-ball match that I refereed. This girl has Tour action that would be the envy of many girls currently on the LPGA Tour. I don't know if Jessica is planning to attend college or turn pro, but she's got a complete game already.

Sunday's singles matches didn't hold much suspense as the USA team needed only 1 1/2 points to retain the Cup and 2 point to win outright. The USA clinched the Cup in match #3. I was the referee for match #4 between Lisa Maguire from Ireland and Kimberly Kim, the University of Denver player from Hawaii who won the U.S. Women's Amateur at 14. I think Kimberly will be playing a full amateur schedule this summer and then turning pro in the fall.

The match was all square at the turn and when I walked past the giant scoreboard it was clear that the USA was soon to clinch the Cup with matches 2+3 already well in hand just ahead. What we had here, though, was a horse race. Lisa Maguire and her twin, Leona, are both on the team, and at 15 years old, the youngest players along with Alexis Thompson. The Maguire twins are supposedly fraternal twins, but they look pretty darn identical to me. I talked to the referee who had them in a foursome match and she said that the only way she could tell them apart was that one was wearing different color socks. I'm glad I didn't have that match. In fact, when I refereed Lisa's win in her four-ball match with partner Sally Watson, I congratulated both players on the 18th green. About 15 minutes later I saw Lisa again outside the pro shop, tapped her on the shoulder and said, 'Nice playing out there.' After getting a perplexed look, I quickly realized that it was Leona who had lost her match. Oops. I quickly vacated the area.

Having seen Lisa in action already in her Four-Ball win, I knew that she was a fierce little competitor, a bulldog. She traverses the course almost with a scowl on her face an barely says two words. But like I said, we had a horse race here. She lost the 10th hole to Kim, squared it two holes later and went 1 up after winning #15. She held on for the win and was quickly mobbed by her teammates on the 18th green. It seemed like she was willing herself around the course. Impressive for someone so young.

The GBI girls were playing for pride now, and to their credit, they won three singles matches after the Cup had been decided. The closing ceremony was the perfect topper to a hard fought but friendly competition. GBI Captain, Mary McKenna, was gracious in defeat and USA Captain, Noreen Mohler, called all 16 girls winners. And I would have to agree.