USGA Announces 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team
Far Hills, NJ (PRWEB) March 13, 2014 -- The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced the eight players who will represent the USA in the 2014 Curtis Cup Match, to be conducted June 6-8 at St. Louis (Mo.) Country Club.
The players are:
Kyung Kim, 19, of Chandler, Ariz. (University of Southern California)
Alison Lee, 19, of Valencia, Calif. (University of California, Los Angeles)
Erynne Lee, 21, of Silverdale, Wash. (University of California, Los Angeles)
Ally McDonald, 21, of Fulton, Miss. (Mississippi State University)
Annie Park, 18, of Levittown, N.Y. (University of Southern California)
Ashlan Ramsey, 18, of Milledgeville, Ga. (Clemson University)
Mariah Stackhouse, 19, of Riverdale, Ga. (Stanford University)
Emma Talley, 19, of Princeton, Ky. (University of Alabama)
“We are very proud of these eight women who have been selected to represent the United States at the Curtis Cup Match,” said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and chairman of the International Team Selection Committee. “While their playing records are exemplary, they also personify the ideals of sportsmanship, competitiveness and affability that are among the defining characteristics of this competition. We trust that they will represent their country in fine fashion come June.”
The Curtis Cup Match is a biennial international women’s amateur golf competition between eight-player teams from the United States of America and Great Britain and Ireland. Six-time USGA champion and two-time USA Curtis Cup Team member Ellen Port will serve as captain of the USA Team for the 38th Match.
“I am so proud of these players and excited for what is ahead for this team,” said Port, a St. Louis native. “Representing your country in the Curtis Cup Match is one of the highest honors a female amateur player can receive, and I know these women are more than up to the task. We are all looking forward to June and the opportunities that are ahead of us.”
Kim, a sophomore at USC, won the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and has competed in the past three U.S. Women’s Open Championships. She has three collegiate victories.
Alison Lee, a freshman at UCLA, was the runner-up at the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, reached the semifinals of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and has competed in three U.S. Women’s Opens. She captured two collegiate victories during her first semester at UCLA.
Erynne Lee, a junior at UCLA, has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens and has three collegiate victories. Lee, who has reached at least the quarterfinals at four U.S. Women’s Amateurs, represented the United States at the 2012 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and the 2013 Copa de las Americas.
McDonald, a junior at Mississippi State, won the 2013 North & South Women’s Amateur Championship. She has three collegiate victories, including the 2013 NCAA Central Regional, and has finished outside the top 25 only twice in her collegiate career.
Park, a sophomore at USC, in 2013 became the seventh freshman to claim the NCAA individual title and only the second woman in NCAA history to sweep the conference, regional and national titles. Park reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur and has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens.
Ramsey, a freshman at Clemson, was the runner-up to Kim at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and won three important events in summer 2013, including the Women’s Eastern and Women’s Western championships. She earned two victories during her first fall season at Clemson.
Stackhouse, a sophomore at Stanford, has four collegiate wins, including the 2014 UC Irvine Invitational, which earned her a spot in the LPGA’s 2014 Kia Classic field. Stackhouse, who has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens, was a member of Georgia’s winning team at the 2009 USGA Women’s State Team Championship. She is also the first African-American player to be named to the USA Curtis Cup Team.
Talley, a sophomore at Alabama, won the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and has competed in two U.S. Women’s Opens. She won the 2013 PING-ASU Invitational and was named 2013 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year.
All eight players are among the top 25 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, with Park (No. 2), Alison Lee (No. 3), Ramsey (No. 7), McDonald (No. 9) and Kim (No. 10) in the top 10.
The alternates for the USA Team are, in order of ranking: Doris Chen, of Bradenton, Fla., and Lauren Diaz-Yi, of Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Full biographical information on the eight USA players and Port can be found at http://www.curtiscup.org.
The Curtis Cup Match consists of six foursomes (alternate-shot) matches, six four-ball matches and eight singles matches over three days of competition. Among notable past USA Curtis Cup Team members are U.S. Women’s Open champions JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Paula Creamer, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Patty Sheehan and Hollis Stacy, as well as past and present LPGA stars such as Beth Daniel, Jessica Korda, Stacy Lewis, Nancy Lopez, Dottie Pepper, Lexi Thompson and Michelle Wie.
GB&I won the 2012 Match at The Nairn Golf Club in Nairn, Scotland, 10.5-9.5, while the USA Team leads the overall series, 27-7-3.
Tegwen Matthews will again serve as captain of the GB&I Team, a position she held in 2012. The GB&I Team is expected to be announced on May 6.
About the USGA
The USGA conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, as well as 10 national amateur championships, two state team championships and international matches, attracting players and fans from more than 160 countries. Together with The R&A, the USGA governs the game worldwide, jointly administering the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, equipment standards and World Amateur Golf Rankings. The USGA’s reach is global with a working jurisdiction in the United States, its territories and Mexico, serving more than 25 million golfers and actively engaging 150 golf associations.
The USGA is one of the world’s foremost authorities on research, development and support of sustainable golf course management practices. It serves as a primary steward for the game’s history and invests in the development of the game through the delivery of its services and its ongoing “For the Good of the Game” grants program. Additionally, the USGA’s Course Rating and Handicap systems are used on six continents in more than 50 countries.
For more information about the USGA, visit http://www.usga.org.
Christina Lance, United States Golf Association, http://www.usga.org, +1 908-326-1882, [email protected]
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