The Curtis Cup

[Niall C]

I was fortunate yesterday to attend the last day of the Curtis Cup at Nairn. In a hard fought but sporting contest, GB&I sneaked home against the USA after a thrilling fight back on the final day. Both teams played some fantastic golf in the proper spirit on a great golf course in top condition. Hard to fault it really. Both teams were a great credit to themselves and the game of golf, well done them.

One more thing, with at least one thread currently going on slow play, I'm pleased to say that all the players played at a good pace with no fannying about, even over some tricky shots. Given that many of the girls who played at the weekend will likely end up going professional, this hopefully bodes well for the future of ladies golf.

Niall

[David_Tepper]

Niall -

What was the weather at Nairn like on Sunday? I was there Friday afternoon and the wind out of the east was very strong (and cold), easily 3 clubs. The wind-chill factor could not have been more than 40-42F.

I thought the fairways at Nairn were pretty lush, at least compared to what I saw at Dornoch, Tain & Brora over the prior 4 weeks.

I was very surprised to see that the GB&I team won the match. They lost all 3 matches Friday morning and, at one point, they were down in all 3 matches Friday afternoon. I guess winning 2 of those 3 afternoon matches was the turning point for them.

DT 

[Niall C]

David

The weather was typical Scottish summer ie two jackets and a sweater ! Seriously, it could have got a bit chilly if you were hanging about without swinging a club which obviously was the position most of us were in. There was a bit of a breeze but not really anything that proved too difficult. As far as the course was concerned I didn't think it any greener than Moray. I suspect that the wee bit of rain they had on the Thursday/Friday maybe made it that way then but by yesterday it was running quite nicely.

When I arrived I followed the last match out for the first couple of holes and was blown away by how good these girls were (and I do mean girls, I doubt either of them were over 5 foot 2 and weighed more than me the two of them combined). The Irish girl hit two tremendous drives down the middle of the fairway the first two holes and put her approaches to about 12 feet and 8 feet respectively, just missed both putts and found herself one down. Took in a couple of the other games and early on I thought that superior putting from the US would win through but the GB&I team managed to turn it around. In the end all of the games were won fairly convincingly with I think 2 and 1 being the closest. Funny how in a close contest its often the team behind who comes through to win. Something about the mind set.

Niall

[Kris Shreiner]

A tip of the cap to a rousing win by the GBI lassies! Quite the comeback. I was also struck by the fact that the various Euro teams have won ALL of the major international events of late:Curtis Cup, Solheim Cup, Walker Cup, Ryder Cup. Have we Yanks gotten soft Or has the re-energized player development efforts of the various Euro Unions and the R&A begun to bear fruit? Probably a combination of things, but you have to respect and admire the run of stout form the European Teams are on. Well done!

How were the crowds Niall? Was the attendance decent? Obviously not expecting droves, but were there younger kids, girls in particular, out on the course taking in the competition? I hope so, because Scotland still seems to overlook really supporting and developing the younger girl golfers as a group. Sure, the top girls are well looked after, but the lifetime recreational gal golfer, how's that been of late? Thoughts?

Cheers,
Kris

[Niall C]

Kris

I don't know about actual numbers but I thought that there was a good sized crowd that created and enjoyed a good atmosphere. Obviously it was mainly GB&I supporters but there was a fair amount of US enjoying themselves as well. From press reports I think they were pleased with the numbers but then I've got to say the event was poorly reported. I know there's a lot of competing sporting events going on with the French Open tennis and the Euro Championships but to relegate coverage to 11pm highlights is just pathetic. Its as though the BBC was deliberately trying to lose its golf coverage.

It is strange that at the moment Europeans, or at least non-US, are having the upper hand over the americans but I think its just swings and roundabouts. A few years back England had hardly any players in the world top 100, now they have two of the top three and several more in the top 20. I'm absolutely certain in a few years time the US will be back up there.

Niall

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thanks for the report Niall, I can't belive how little was in the press about this.


In a Century or two when someone writes a history one of the more interesting Chapters wil be on the decline in interest in Amatuer golf. When people moan about e.g. the lack of etiquette and the slowness of modern golf, I think someit can be traced to the loss of respect for the Club and National amatuer champions.

[Mike Hendren]

Why so little about Nairn on this site? 

Are folks blowing by it to get to Dornoch?

[David_Tepper]

"Why so little about Nairn on this site?" 

Michael H. -

Nairn (and Nairn vs. Dornoch) was been discussed here not too long ago.

I think the weaknesses of Nairn are two:

1) The holes (#1, #2, #17 #18) from and back to the clubhouse are on rather flat land.
2) The holes at the far end of the course (roughly #7 thru #11) have a "back & forth" aspect to them. That being said some of those holes are pretty good.

DT   

[Niall C]

Michael,

As DT says, there has been plenty on Nairn v. Dornoch and Kris and I have bumped heads a number of times. Without rehashing the comparisons all over again, I'll point you to another thread I started on aesthetics v. substance, and while I'm casting no aspertions against Dornoch, and truly I'm not, Nairn simply doesn't do the aesthetics as well as Dornoch. Its similar to courses like Troon and Southerness in that regard. What you don't get is in your face vistas, dunes and blooming gorse.

What you do get is good old fashioned links golf played on quality turf. Even the flatter holes that DT refers to require some crisp striking, and allowance for wind and bounce and roll of the ball. Others are simply fantastic rolling links with some lovely contoured greens. How the downhill par 3 15th (?) doesn't get a mention when discussing the quirky greens such as those at TOC or NB I really don't know. Hard to describe it, the best I can do is suggest its like an oversized crumpled napkin. Watching several of the matches go through on Sunday it was interesting to see even those that hit the green were scrambling to get their par.

Also as DT says, the routing does switch back on itself a couple of times but as someone who was brought up on a parkland course where the holes ran in parallel, a few switchbacks bother me not one jot as long as the hole I'm playing is a good un. And Nairn has an abundance of good uns.

Tony

You could be right. I just wonder if its a warning shot for top class ladies golf right now, after all you are talking about players who could very well be a the top of ladies golf in a few years time, and yet there seems to be no interest in spotting the stars of the future.

Niall  

edited for lapses in spelling

[Dan King]

I only played Nairn once.  It would have been in the late 1990s, as they were making a big deal about hosting the Walker Cup in the future. The Walker Cup was played there in 1999.  I didn't think much of it.  It felt a little too lush and Americanized for my taste. I think I soured on it when a bus load of Americans showed up while I was there. There was a really cool green on the holes up the hill and I remember a cool hole early on where you could cut off a part of the beach.

I thought the views of Morey Firth were great and you had views from just about every hole, but I remember much preferring the golf at Old Morey despite the RAF buzzing the course.

Cheers,
Dan King

Ever since golf began - Scottish historians have settled on the year 1100 as a reasonable date of birth- the game has been an enigma.
 --Herbert Warren Wind

[Jon Wiggett]

I think one of the problems with the media coverage was that there was so much going on in Inverness that weekend. Olympic torch, Rock Ness, etc. It is poor form that the BBC did not give it the same coverage as the Walker Cup last year.

Jon

[Niall C]

Jon

I imagine Rockness, Olympic Torch and so on are covered by different parts of the BBC. I'm sure they must have a dedicated sports department who are all probably over in Poland covering England training sessions. Setting aside my obvious bias against the English football team, sticking on highlights at 11 pm for goodness sake, thats poor.

Dan

Thanks for the plug for Moray Old. Been up here for a couple of years now and joined Moray last year. Its a terrific set up that deserves a lot more attention IMO. If only Tom Watson had visited in the early 80's.........

Niall