Jennie Lee Shares Her Experience At The Curtis Cup

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to give you an update of how the summer has been for the Duke women's golf team! It has been exciting so far, although we were unable to four-peat at the NCAA Championships, our team finished very strong on the last day of the tournament and moved from eighth place to third place after shooting seven-under as a team.

The following day, Amanda and I flew out with Stacy Lewis from University of Arkansas, Alison Walshe from University of Arizona, and Tiffany Joh from UCLA to begin our trip to St. Andrews, Scotland to represent the United States in this year's Curtis Cup. In Newark, we met up with three other USA team members, Kimberly Kim, Meghan Bolger, and Mina Harigae, who is an incoming freshman for the Blue Devils. We also joined our captain, Carol Semple Thompson and team manager, Donna Mummert.

In Newark, we had our first team dinner before our flight to Edinburgh and then boarded our flight in the first class cabin. With our personal TV screens and seats that nearly became beds; we felt that the flight over the Atlantic was too short.

It was 10:00 a.m. when we arrived in Edinburgh, and by the time we drove out to St. Andrews, it was time for lunch. During our drive, we could not believe the endless open fields and the number of cows and sheep we saw. The fields were bright green with yellow flowers (which we later learned was called ?gorse;' not a good place to hit your ball) and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Upon our arrival at the Old Course Hotel, we had lunch in the hotel and went out for a walk on the golf course. There was a ladies tournament the day we arrived and some of the signs were already up for the Curtis Cup. We also found a street along the first hole called “Semple Thompson Parkway.”

The next day, our week at the Old Course began. We played 36 holes on the first day and then played 18 holes for three more days to gather as much knowledge as possible on the golf course.

Many of us were not familiar with the links style golf and had to try different shots, including using a putter from 70 yards away. With the howling wind, we sometimes had to aim 50-60 yards left and right of our target in order to get our ball to end up on the green.

One morning, we had rain and about 40 mph winds-- my umbrella only made it to the fourth hole. We found the biggest green in the world which my caddy said was over an acre and there were many holes that shared greens with the hole on the other nine. Our caddies shared with us some of the most random facts: the holes that have shared greens all add up to 18 and told us about a bunker on the 11th hole that Bobby Jones struggled from. (Alison's caddie also had us try Galaxy chocolate bars and Maltesers). We found the “Hell bunker” on No. 12 and went in numerous other bunkers to take pictures hoping that we wouldn't have to be there during the matches.

Although our manager found us course guides on the first tee, those books rarely came out of our golf bags after the first 4-5 holes. It was nearly impossible to find a target off the tee, unless it was the “tall church steeple” in downtown St. Andrews or the little yellow bush that was 20 yards from the tee box. Even as we hit our approaching shots onto the green, we had to triple check with our caddy to make sure we were hitting at the right pin. With the Old Course, I think my teammates would agree that this was one of the most bizarre golf courses we have ever played; but I feel like it should be the other way because St. Andrews is really the “original” form of golf itself.

In addition to this unique golf course, we had the privilege of having access to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club which sits about 30 yards from the first tee. In this very exclusive clubhouse, we enjoyed our daily lunches (with amazing baked potatoes) and were able to use the locker room downstairs. With the fascinating trophy room, it was hard to believe the amount of history that the clubhouse holds. When we met Prince Andrew during one of the tournament days, he shared with us that he, too, was one of the former captains of this club.

As the matches finally came on Friday, there were so many spectators watching us play. We heard earlier on in the week that there were 10,000 tickets that were sold for the matches. Some of the most special moments were playing in front of such a huge crowd, the players that sat out matches got to ride around in Team USA golf carts at St. Andrews (a course where carts are not available unless you have a handicapped license), and we had the privilege of playing the course on a Sunday, a day in which the course is usually used as a public park and not a golf course. To add a cherry on top of all of these, this year's matches was the first Curtis Cup to play at St. Andrews.

The Ladies Golf Union, Royal and Ancient Golf Club, and St. Andrews were amazing hosts and it was truly an unforgettable experience for all of us to have played at the Old Course. To think of those who have set foot on that golf course before us is quite remarkable and special for us to trace those steps. Thank you to all the Americans that traveled over the Atlantic to cheer us on, including Coach Brooks who came to see his three Dukies. And of course, thanks to you for reading about our adventure!

Jennie Lee