www.globalgolfpost.com
MARCH 12, 2012
There is a sliver of hope that the
Ladies’ Golf Union and 15-year-old
Charley Hull could sort out their differences before 27 March, the day the selectors
will announce the eight-strong Curtis Cup
side for Nairn. And that they could do so
without either party losing face.
To recap, everything went badly awry
when Hull, the sixth-ranked amateur in
the world, received an invitation to play in
the Kraft Nabisco at the end of March. Understandably flattered, she decided to opt
out of the preceding Curtis Cup trial, and
that though she had signed a contract to
say she would be there. Presumably, she
felt that her golfing CV was such that the
LGU could not leave her out of the team
itself which, of course, is precisely what
they elected to do.
Hope of a reconciliation rests on the
fact that the selectors are an independent
body who, as explained by Shona Malcolm,
the CEO of the LGU, do not have to go
along with the LGU’s decision.
It is because the selectors helped with
the wording of the contract, that they
might want to admit that they should have
included a “get-out clause.” As for
Charley’s advisers, they could – and
should – shoulder the blame for their
crass handling of events.
Instead of encouraging Charley to ring
the Curtis Cup captain, Tegwen Matthews,
to explain what was going on, they took it
upon themselves to pull Charley out of
the trial. The only problem, here, was
that they sent the message to the wrong
body at the wrong address. Namely, to the
Ladies European Tour at The Berkshire
rather than the LGU in St Andrews.
made it clear all along that I’m looking
for eight players who are prepared to bust
a gut to get in my team. Charley hasn’t
exactly conveyed that impression.”
There are, of course, plenty of Char-
leys out there, youngsters so focused on
their professional futures that they have
scant appreciation of the amateur game.
They can probably tell you who is earning
what on the LPGA Tour but, were you to
ask them anything about the story of the
Curtis Cup, they would not have a clue. A
career as a professional does not demand
anything in the way of historical knowl-
“I’ve made it clear all along that I’m
looking for eight players who are prepared
to bust a gut to get in my team. Charley
hasn’t exactly conveyed that impression.”
– Tegwen Matthews, GB&I Curtis Cup captain
Since the captain had already spoken to
the father of one of the other players and
confirmed that it was necessary for his
daughter to fly back from the States for
the three days at Nairn, she was by then
in no position to say something entirely different to Charley, even if she had
wanted to. “The Curtis Cup is a team event
and it wouldn’t have been fair on the rest,”
she stressed.
“Apart from that,” she continued, “I’ve
edge, even if Tiger Woods has revelled in
learning about past golfing greats.
