CURTIS CUP MATCH

August 2, 1998

Ita Butler

Rebecca Hudson

Becky Morgan

Karen Stupples

RHONDA GLENN: Ladies and gentlemen, we're very pleased to have a very gracious captain from the GB&I team who has a victory as a captain a 1-1 record, very good, Ita Butler. Let's present Becky Morgan who defeated Jo Jo Robertson on Saturday with a point for her team; Karen Stupples who defeated Carol Semple Thompson in a very good match today, 1 up; and Rebecca Hudson who won 1 1/2 for her team. She halved her match with Jenny Chuasiriporn yesterday, and she and her partner beat Beth Bauer and Jenny Chuasiriporn in foursomes. Thank you so much for being with us. Ita, let me ask you to lead it off. Just tell us your reactions to the day. It's a very close match. If one point had gone either way it would have had a different ending.

ITA BUTLER: Exactly. I expect after the foursomes this morning we did leave ourselves with a little bit to do. But, in fact, we weren't at all deflated. We actually caught the Cup team two years ago, I guess, we said maybe we can return the compliment. We really believed we could do it. I thought we had a great six players out there and it was just really a matter of a few putts. The U.S. Team putted beautifully for the past two days. They really holed some magnificent putts. Their chipping was superb. I think possibly that's where they managed to win. It usually comes down to that in the end.

ITA BUTLER: To be honest, I don't generally read too much into the background of the players we're playing against, but this year we didn't have any choice because of the success of the players because of so many of the United States Curtis Cup team -- that's the question you're asking me?

Q. I'm just wondering if you're familiar with the people, and were there points that you got? For instance, I guess Chuasiriporn and Bauer, that you might not have thought were there, but also the play of Booth and Kuehn winning so many points for the U.S. Team. Did that come as a surprise to you?

ITA BUTLER: Does it sound very rude to say yes? But Brenda -- Brenda's putting was -- her match this morning, her putting was just phenomenal and she continued it in the afternoon -- maybe you can't keep that standard of putting up. But to be honest, a matchplay event, to play a game like Jenny Chuasiriporn, excuse the pronunciation, it's quite an awesome occasion and I think Rebecca handled the whole thing brilliantly. But then Rebecca loves a challenge, as most of the girls do and she relished. When I gave her the lineup yesterday, she said "Great". As most of the players did, they reacted positive to whoever they had to play.

REBECCA HUDSON: My match with Jenny, when the team was announced who I was playing, I actually thought: Great, this is perfect. This is just what I want. In the first Curtis Cup match, no real pressure on me because everyone knows Jenny, U.S. Open, blah, blah, blah, whatever. I was like: Yeah, go out there, enjoy this and play your golf. There's no pressure on you and show her what you can do. And I went out there and enjoyed it. She's a great golfer. I really enjoyed the match with her and I got to come off with 1/2, although I was 4 up. Some people said: You should stay there but, no, she holed some really great putts.

REBECCA HUDSON: I think getting used to the fast greens and the style of greens, it's completely different to what it is in the U.K. And practicing on these greens and just knowing how they run and to drop them in is an advantage. Although, we got one or two but not on a consistent basis as the Americans did, which it's just one or two putts which changes the game.

KAREN STUPPLES: I think it was a lot to do with the slopes on the greens. And certainly at home I haven't come across greens with as large slopes and having to allow so much for those. That's what I found. Sometimes you could aim completely the opposite way of the hole and it would just swing right around and it was -- just made it you know really tricky and I think that was -- just not used to that at home. You know, even on my home course, I play a links course and the greens are fairly undulating but I've never experienced greens with such big slopes on them.

BECKY MORGAN: Basically, what Karen says about the slopes as well. We had some great putts as well but the putts didn't just drop this week. I just think if the breaks weren't there -- I mean, still great putts but just didn't go for us.

RHONDA GLENN: Ita, I might ask you what sort of greens does Ganton have two years from now?

ITA BUTLER: I played Ganton about 60 years ago, not quite. But what I remember of Ganton, they were quite fast greens, they were relatively flat, I would think. It's a very well-bunkered course, but they are -- I think they are likely to be fast greens. But one thing I would add, and it's not an excuse, the conditions in GB&I this year for practicing putting on has not been good. We really haven't had opportunities. The best opportunity we had to practice on fast greens was in Spain this year. But I also would add that I think the winning teams always hole those putts and that's to acknowledge the Americans. The winning teams always make these putts and they did it this time out.

BECKY MORGAN: The whole team is in for the U.S. Amateur. We're staying in Minneapolis this week and flying out to Detroit on Thursday and some are staying on for a little longer. But I'm supposed to be going home after the Amateur.

KAREN STUPPLES: I'm actually one of those ones that is staying on a bit longer. I'm going down to the LPGA Tour School to try and get my card and play out here in the States for this season, turning professional.

KAREN STUPPLES: After the Amateur, so I'm hoping for a good Amateur to springboard me off that into a good professional career, I hope.