Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., July 11 — Pamela Pretswell and Danielle McVeigh had a lot to smile about after their 4-and-3 thumping of Jennifer Song and Kimberly Kim in their Friday afternoon Curtis Cup contest at Essex County Club.
Song is the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) champ and intends to turn pro following this week’s matches, along with 15-year-old teammate Alexis Thompson. Song, Kim, and Thompson all qualified for next month’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Best ever. After beating the heralded Song and Kim duo, Scotland’s Pretswell gushed that the par-70, 6,247-yard Essex was the best layout she had ever played.
“We got some momentum early in the game, and that helps,” Pretswell said. “It makes you smile.”
Pretswell was not alone in her good will toward the historic Donald Ross course. Indeed, members of the underdog GB&I team played with exuberance and confidence, from the first tee shot, to Lisa Maguire’s 2.5-foot putt on the 18th green to cap a 1-up defeat of Americans Jessica Kordy and Tiffany Lua.
Surprising Friday. By the end of the first day of the three-day competition, GB&I held a surprising 3.5-2.5 lead. Surprising, perhaps, because the GB&I team has not won a Curtis Cup since 1996, and many golf pundits gave the eight-woman squad of amateurs from across the pond little chance of winning the trophy away from the strong U.S. eight.
In biennial Curtis Cup competition, two teams of eight women amateur golfers from the U.S. play against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland. The U.S. has won the last six contests and needs 10 points to keep the cup on home soil, while GB&I needs 10.5 points to win it back.
Players like Pretswell and McVeigh, her team’s grande dame, at 22, would not be denied on Friday. “Danielle had a three-foot putt for a birdie on the first hole and we were off and running,” said Pretswell.
“We know how good the U.S. team is, but we can play, too,” the six-foot, one-inch McVeigh added. “We’re excited to be here.”
Not over ‘till it’s over. Still, as players and captains from both squads pointed out, the golfers still have Saturday’s and Sunday’s golf to play.
“It’s a good start, but, obviously, it’s far from over,” said Sally Watson, a Stanford University freshman from Scotland. “It gives us confidence to play even better tomorrow.”
Watson’s leader agreed. “[The U.S.] stole it in the morning in the first [foursome] match,” GB&I’s captain Mary McKenna told reporters following Friday’s play, “and we stole it back in the afternoon. But it’s only day one.”
Noreen Mohler, the U.S. captain, seconded McKenna’s sentiment. “There’s lots of golf left,” she said, “that’s what I tell my team. ‘Get her done’ has kind of been our motto. I’m happy with the position we’re in.”
After each team finished with 1.5 points in the morning foursome contests, the U.S. unit was able to grab one point in the afternoon four-ball competition. Thompson and Jennifer Johnson defeated Rachel Jennings and Leona Maguire, Lisa’s twin sister, 3-and-2.
Afternoon delight. As for the final winning putt, Maguire said she was “delighted” to hole the ball after her partner, Watson, had made putts all afternoon. As soon as the ball dropped, the many Anglophiles circling the 18th green cheered loudly.
Watson, by the way, will also play in the U.S. Women’s Open.
Saturday’s three four-ball matches commence at 8:30 a.m., followed by three foursome tilts in the afternoon. The event will finish up with eight singles matches on Sunday.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly and writes Boston Golf Examiner as well.)
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