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Sunday, April 07, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The United States Golf Association has long been enamored with Western Pennsylvania, even before the arrival of Latrobe's favorite son, Arnold Palmer. Over the years, the USGA has staged many of its national championships here, highlighted by the U.S. Open, perhaps golf's grandest competition. That event has been contested seven times in Western Pennsylvania, all at Oakmont Country Club (1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983 and 1994).

	Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickley has been on the U.S. team for 11 Curtis Cup matches. She is hoping for her 12th appearance at Fox Chapel Country Club in August. (Stephen Morton, Associated Press)

This year the Curtis Cup matches -- the women's amateur version of the Ryder Cup, pitting a U.S. team against Great Britain -- will be staged at Fox Chapel Golf Club Aug. 2-4.

In coming years the U.S. Amateur will be held at Oakmont in 2003, the U.S. Women's Amateur at the Kahkwa Club in Erie in 2004 and the return of the U.S. Open to Oakmont in 2007.

"That's my goal -- to make my 12th Curtis Cup team," said Thompson, a former U.S. Amateur (1973) and British Amateur (1974) champion.

Thompson already holds the record for most Curtis Cup appearances (11). She holds the American record with 16 wins in Curtis Cup competitions.

Thompson is hoping to add to those records as one of the eight members of this year's U.S. team, which will be selected by the USGA's Women's Committee in June. If she gets selected, Thompson's Curtis Cup experience will span 28 years (1974-2002). Only Anne Sander has a longer streak (1958-2000).

"Even if I'm not picked, I'll be there every day, rooting them on," Thompson said.

Same with Judy Oliver, 54, who competed on three Curtis Cup teams and was captain of the U.S. squad in 1992.

	Mark your calendars Major golf events coming to Western Pennsylvania 2002 -- Curtis Cup matches, Fox Chapel Golf Club, Aug. 2-4. 2003 -- U.S. Amateur, Oakmont Country Club. 2004 -- U.S. Women's Amateur, Kahkwa Club, Erie. 2007 -- U.S. Open, Oakmont Country Club.

Oliver, a Sewickley resident and a member at Allegheny Country Club, will not qualify for this year's event as a player. She will be part of the team as honorary captain, the first time the USGA has had an honorary captain for the event. Mary Budke, the 1972 U.S. Women's Amateur champ, will captain the American team.

"It's such a great experience, to have a chance to play for your country," Oliver said of playing in the Curtis Cup. "There's nothing quite like it. It's not like being in the U.S. Open, which is really cool. It's just a feeling of accomplishment that you're even selected to the team."

Oliver competed in the matches in 1978, 1980 and 1982, when she was playing in national events on a regular basis and before she gave up her career to raise her children. Oliver compiled a 5-1-2 record in three years as a Curtis Cup competitor. None of that ranks with her greatest thrill -- serving as captain in 1992 when the Curtis Cup was played in Hoylake, England.

"There's nothing to compare with that," Oliver said. "I liked playing three times, and each time was a little different. But you never got tired of it. It's so much fun.

"It's a little scary representing your country. Playing for yourself is one thing. Not letting your country down is another.

"Every time I played, I played well. I was pre-pared and I worked hard. It meant so much to me that I really prepared to be ready."

Being at Fox Chapel Golf Club will have additional meaning for Oliver, who is being treated for cancer. Her late mother, Evelyn St. Clair Moreland, was a former club champion there. Oliver, a Fox Chapel native, played the course many times as a teenager.

She might not recognize some of the holes. Fox Chapel has undergone a significant makeover under the guidance of architect Brian Silva, who has redone several of the top courses in the country (Shinnecock Hills, Seminole) and built nine new holes at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier.

The intent was to restore the layout to its original Seth Raynor design, and that included redoing all 97 bunkers, changing some greens and restoring the Alps, the grassy mounds in front of the green at the short par-4 seventh. The changes were not made specifically for the Curtis Cup -- "Most of the restoration was done in general," said Fox Chapel pro Mark Hessler -- but the club wanted to have them done in time for the matches.

"After all these years, I can't wait," Oliver said. "Fox Chapel is a wonderful venue."

Thompson previously appeared in the Curtis Cup matches in 2000, when the U.S. team defeated Great Britain in North Yorkshire, England. At 53, she remains one of the toughest competitors in women's amateur golf.

Thompson made her first Curtis Cup team in 1974, the year she won the British Amateur. She has been named to the team nearly every year since, missing only in 1978, 1984 and 1986. The matches are held every two years.

The pressure is nothing new for Thompson, who has won the past three U.S. Senior Women's Amateur championships. But the pressure of playing for your country can be daunting, especially when the matches are in Western Pennsylvania.

"You have to get all that stuff out of your mind," Oliver said. "If you're thinking about that stuff when you start, the pressure is too great."