CURTIS CUP

June 10, 2022

Amari Avery

Megha Ganne

Merion Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Amari Avery and Megha Ganne who put the first points on the board of the match for Team USA. How does it feel to do that?

AMARI AVERY: Feels really good. It's amazing to be a rookie matchup and play against I guess one of the most experienced GB&I teams out here. It's nice to get a point and start pretty strong, too.

Q. What were your feelings like on the first tee today?

AMARI AVERY: Honestly I was a little jittery. I was telling Megha after I teed off that watching GB&I tee off I did get a little nervous, but as soon as that tee went into the ground everything went away.

Q. Megha, talk us through the highlight of your round.

MEGHA GANNE: It was my chip-in on 9. So I was pretty mad when I missed the green with like a 54-degree wedge and I was walking up to my ball and I saw that the lie was good and I said, Amari, should I chip this in? And Amari said, why not. And then I did, and we got hyped. That was my one goal going into the week was to hole out from off the green at the Curtis Cup, and I did.

AMARI AVERY: And she did that.

MEGHA GANNE: Just barely off the green but it counts.

Q. I heard you say you were paired together at the Junior Solheim Cup. Did you ask to be paired together this week?

AMARI AVERY: Not really. We requested it in some previous forms before practice session. But we didn't really have a clue if we were going to be paired up or not, but we have experience together.

MEGHA GANNE: Yeah, we loved playing the Solheim together and we played really well there, fought hard. We were down. So today was a very different match than last time.

AMARI AVERY: It was a very different match.

MEGHA GANNE: But I think our captain could tell that we have really good chemistry, as does everyone on this team, so I'm glad we got to play that first round together.

Q. How did going over to Wales last year help prepare you for what it's like?

MEGHA GANNE: Yeah, I learned a lot from being outside the ropes and learned to really be a team player and cheer on my teammates even from -- you have a lot of impact other than just hitting the golf ball, so I tried to apply that this week, and now I do get to play some matches, so it's been fun.

Q. What is it that you two feel like works so well in your chemistry?

MEGHA GANNE: I think we're just really good friends off the golf course and we have very similar personalities. A lot of inside jokes.

AMARI AVERY: Yeah, there's a lot going on between us, too, and it's a never-ending thing.

MEGHA GANNE: Our manager Laura was like, is it going to be too much to put you guys together? We're like, no, no.

AMARI AVERY: Yeah, I made a joke previously in the week. I was like, I don't think you should put us together, and they actually took it seriously.

MEGHA GANNE: We were like, no --

AMARI AVERY: No, no, definitely put us together.

Q. What was the thrill or the idea of wanting to chip in?

MEGHA GANNE: Of wanting to chip in?

Q. Why was that your goal for the week?

MEGHA GANNE: Because that's what gets -- I don't know, that's what gets the crowd going. It's exciting. It's exciting for me. Amari was jumping up in the air.

AMARI AVERY: Airborne.

MEGHA GANNE: It's just the best feeling when you do that, especially in a match play format.

Q. Were you hoping for like an ESPN highlight?

MEGHA GANNE: Yeah, a little Top 10.

AMARI AVERY: Yeah I think that's what she's looking to. We love an ESPN Top 10.

Q. Megha, would you say you have a flair for the dramatic?

MEGHA GANNE: You know, I think you would say that definitely.

Q. Amari, I know we talked about maybe potentially turning professional and not going to college. Now that you're here and doing this, in addition to what's happened in one semester at SC, how do you feel about getting this experience that you might have missed out on?

AMARI AVERY: I mean, honestly it's surreal. To think that I would have potentially passed this up and not gotten this experience, I don't know what I'd do. I mean, because I've always wanted to turn pro, and that's been my dream for forever. But I don't see the point in rushing to get out there. I think it'll always be there.

But this won't. This goes away at some point, and I was always going to be amateur. Getting experience like this especially with some of my closest friends is truly cool.

Q. Do you guys -- have you participated in the NILs at all?

AMARI AVERY: I'm the only one in college. She's not there yet. I have, though. I just recently signed with Nike and I did like a sponsor video for Bank of America.

Q. Does that make a difference if you wanted to stay or not?

AMARI AVERY: Yeah, it did. For me at least. I committed during COVID, so I just didn't really have much to expect, but we started hearing of NIL, and that kind of swayed my opinion on whether or not I was going to turn pro just because if I'm going to be playing for free and not playing for a livelihood and I get paid, it's kind of the best of both worlds.

Q. Does it make your life easier in school?

AMARI AVERY: I think so, yeah. If you're fortunate enough to get some pretty good NIL deals like I have, I think it makes life definitely a lot easier. Obviously I'm on scholarship at school so I don't have to worry about that, so just kind of a bonus for me.

Q. Are you looking into that yourself?

MEGHA GANNE: Yeah, I'm planning to stay all four years at Stanford, so right now I'm just focusing on -- I've been enjoying my senior year. I'm graduating in a few weeks, and I think I'll definitely look into NIL stuff when I start at Stanford and have a little bit of input from Rachel, Rose and my coach there. Taking it slow, but definitely something I'm ready to explore.

Q. What's your graduation date?

MEGHA GANNE: June 22 or 23.

Q. Is it normally that late in the year?

MEGHA GANNE: Yeah, I think schools in this area are pretty late compared to the rest of the country.

Q. You both have played amazing courses around the world. Where does this one rank and why?

MEGHA GANNE: Top 10 for sure.

AMARI AVERY: For me this has got to be top 3, top 5 for sure. Just with the iconic wicker baskets and having the most USGA championships here, I think definitely puts it in the top 3 for sure.

Q. Is there a piece of trivia you've learned about this course that you particularly like, of history?

MEGHA GANNE: There's been a lot.

AMARI AVERY: There has been a lot, but I guess the whole Ben Hogan thing, starting his career here and ending his career here was pretty cool.