AIRPORTS are a necessary evil for golfers with even the best-laid plans, easily going awry. If it’s not missing clubs then it’s missed connections.
For Elaine Farquharson-Black and her GB&I Curtis Cup team, it was a missing link with the plane itself which grounded their initial bid to get across the Atlantic.
“There was a technical issue with the plane and after waiting for five hours it was eventually cancelled and we had to stay overnight,” said the Aberdonian team captain of an aborted take-off from Heathrow which delayed things for a day.
Now safely ensconced on American soil, Farquharson-Black is hoping the US hosts don’t throw another star-spangled spanner into the GB&I works as the visitors aim to defend the Curtis Cup.
Claiming back-to-back wins won’t be an easy task and the record books illustrate the magnitude of the job in hand. Despite two halved matches on US turf, in 1958 and 1994, a GB&I team has claimed just one outright victory in the backyard of their transatlantic rivals and that was in 1986.
Next weekend’s biennial encounter takes place at Quaker Ridge near New York. With an eight-strong side, which includes Aboyne’s Shannon McWilliam, right, Farquharson-Black is approaching the three-day tussle with her usual diligence and she has called on the expertise of the well-respected Scottish coach, Steven Orr, to bolster her armoury.
Farquharson-Black skippered GB&I to victory at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland two years ago but she is well aware that competing, and indeed winning, on the other side of the pond is a different kettle of golfing fish.
“I think every team and every captain has a different approach but I like to be quite structured in the lead up to the match and explain to the players what we are doing and why,” said Farquharson-Black, who played on two Curtis Cup teams in 1990 and 1992.
“Having been out to Quaker Ridge twice before, I know that mastering the greens will be key, so Steven has come out to help with short game preparation. The greens in the US have always been one of the biggest challenges.
“We don’t have greens as fast and as sloping at home so the players will need to adjust quickly. Having a home crowd as we did at Dun Laoghaire also makes a real difference and lifts a team.”
Despite losing the services of Ireland’s former world amateur No 1 Leona Maguire – she has opted to turn professional – GB&I have assembled a side full of youthful talent and exuberance.
In addition to 18-year-old McWilliam, it includes the likes of 15-year-old Annabell Fuller and the 16-year-old Lily May Humphreys, who won the Helen Holm Open at Troon in April.
“Everyone gets on really well which makes my job a little easier,” added the team captain. “It was a difficult decision to choose the final team but we believe we have selected the strongest group of players who were available to us and we have a good balance.”
When it comes to the captain’s job in team golf, some look like they want to hit every shot, while others take more of a back seat.
“I play so little myself now because of work commitments that I’m quite happy to be watching from the sidelines these days,” said the Aberdeen lawyer. “Winning in Dun Laoghaire was fantastic. A win in the US would be very special.”
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