The journey of sporting life that Maria Dunne has taken to reach these foothills of the Wicklow mountains where the 39th Curtis Cup is being held is motivating in its own right.
And it may just be that such inspiration – allied to large home galleries playing the role of a 15th club in the bag – can provide the extra stimulus required if Britain and Ireland are to regain the famous old trophy from American hands.
On a resplendent parkland course that US captain Robin Burke called “breathtaking”, the similarities to layouts in the United States has come as a pleasant surprise to the visitors. No sea spray or sand hills to negotiate.
As world amateur number one and current US amateur champion Hannah O’Sullivan put it, “We’re in Ireland but we feel right at home as well.”
This is a USA team that is the youngest ever to play in the match, with seven teenagers and only one –Monica Vaughn – who has escaped into her 20s. She’s 21! All of them are ranked inside the world’s top-30, for what it is worth.
Yet, with galleries of over 5,000 expected each day, home support could yet provide the critical difference in aiding Britain and Ireland. Three Irish players – Leona Maguire, Olivia Mehaffey and Dunne – are in the team, each bringing huge support, and all three have been thrust into the first day’s foursomes.
Captain Elaine Farquharson-Black, a legal eagle in her day job, has sought to factor in the successes of Paul McGinley and Alex Ferguson into her own leadership approach.
Happy team
“I manage a department in my law firm, 148 in my team, so I have tried to pull on some of the training I get from that too . . . I am trying to have a happy team, who can relax and go out and play their golf,” explained Farquharson-Black.
And few have played as well in recent months as Mehaffey, who – after recovering from glandular fever which laid her low earlier this year – has finished 1st-2nd-1st-1st in her four championship outings since returning from illness.
The 18-year-old Co Down golfer – winner of the Irish Open Strokeplay, the Welsh Open Strokeplay and the Irish Close – was out of action for eight weeks. “It has only been the past month I have felt I am back to my normal self, back training and working hard, back to my full stamina and training in the gym.”
Mehaffey has been paired with Bronte Law in the opening foursomes against O’Sullivan and Mariel Galdiano, and Farquharson has opted to split the Irish and spread the support.
Maguire, who has recovered from the bouts of vertigo which affected her in last month’s US collegiate championships, partners Charlotte Thomas against Andrea Lee and Mika Liu and Dunne has been paired with Meghan Maclaren against Bailey Tasrdy and Vaughn.
Ground running
The B&I team will seek to hit the ground running in the foursomes, the alternate shot format that gets this biennial event under way.
“It’s something our team really enjoys,” said Mehaffey, adding: “I think our team has got a really special bond . . . we’ve done a lot of work. I feel it is something could really favour us.”
For Dunne, who, at 33 years of age, is the oldest player on either team, playing in the Curtis Cup is the pinnacle – so far – of a sporting career that also included years of playing Gaelic football and soccer. As a goalkeeper in her youth, she paid the price for repeatedly diving on hard ground which manifested itself in protruding discs that were hitting nerves and which led to sciatic pain that put a question mark over her golfing career.
“It was a hard time. I couldn’t play golf as well as I used to and I couldn’t function normally . . . . the gym work helped massively, and I still get regular physio. I was ready to finish in 2008, 2009 when it wasn’t going so well. I didn’t want to finish like that: I wanted one more Home International which then turned into ‘maybe I can get onto the European team’ which turned into ‘maybe I can get onto the World’s team’ and after that I realised I could get onto the Curtis Cup. So, small steps, but it got me here,” said Dunne.
USA captain Robin Burke – wife of two-time Major champion Jack Burke – believes youth will be an advantage.
“They’re really well-rounded great players, every bit if not better than older players. They play all the time; they’ve played all over the world. I think their age is a plus because they have a lot of energy,” said Burke.
The USA team is full of Curtis Cup debutants; the B&I team features three who have previous experience: Maguire, Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas, all of whom are on golfing scholarships stateside.
“Like one wise man once said, the trophy is given away on the putting green. . . it is going to come down to who makes the putts,” remarked Burke, emphasising the part that putting will ultimately play in deciding the outcome. That wise man? Her husband, Jack.
