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Headline: Eight Months And Counting... Essex County Club Prepares to Serve as Host of the 2010 Curtis Cup Match

For Immediate Release: October 28, 2009

Manchester, MA — In eight short months, the world's best female amateur golfers will travel to Essex County Club to take part in the 2010 Curtis Cup Match. This biennial competition will feature one team from the United States of America (USA) and one team from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (GB&I).

Expectations will be higher than ever for the eight-person squad representing the United States as they will be looking for their seventh consecutive victory. In 2008, Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe went undefeated to lead the squad from the the USA to a 13-7 victory over Great Britain and Ireland on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

In preparation for the 2010 Curtis Cup Match, host Essex County Club welcomed a group of local media members to Manchester last week to meet with event organizers and take a special tour of the Donald Ross layout.

"The Curtis Cup and Walker Cup are unique in the sense that they are not big pro events but they are big enough to be big," said Bill Van Faasen, the 2010 Curtis Cup Match general chairman. "There is a dimension to them that exceeds state and regional events, but they are intimate enough to provide spectators a great opportunity to watch up close and even walk the fairways with the players."

Here are just a few fun facts that media members learned during the special media event.

The 2010 Curtis Cup Match will mark the first time that the biennial event will be contested over a three-day period here in the United States. In 2008, the format was changed to a three-day competition, with three foursomes and three fourball matches on each of the first two days, and eight singles matches on the final day.
Bruce Hepner, vice president of the Michigan-based Renaissance Golf Design, Inc., has been visiting Essex County Club for the past 10 years in order to assist the club in restoring some of Donald Ross' original characteristics. Much of that restoration has included "taking down trees to let the wind blow" and "peeling back the layers to restore the course to Donald Ross design."
Maggie Giesenhagen visited Essex County Club earlier this year and spent time walking and evaluating the course in preparation for next year's competition. Giesenhagen, a member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and former Executive Director of the Colorado Women's Golf Association, has been a member of the USGA staff since 1992, presently serving as Western Director of Regional Affairs.
Frank Vana, Jr., the last competitor to win a major championship event at Essex County Club, was on hand to provide his thoughts on the layout. Vana, who won his second of two Massachusetts Amateur Championships in Manchester in 2005, remarked that he "has been fortunate to play in more than 28 USGA events and every one has been a gem... the USGA made another great choice in Essex."
Despite the high standards set by the USGA, the event organizers asked Essex County Club to make just one small change to the layout come next June. On the 10th hole, they suggested that the greenside of the fairway mound be shaved so that tee shots would release off the hill down into the fairway.
Eric Richardson has served as the club's superintendent for the past three years. During his interview he was asked how long it would take to prepare the course for championship play. His answer wowed them all as he responded, "It should always be ready to host a championship event."
Bay State native Noreen Friel Mohler will serve as captain of the 2010 Curtis Cup Match. Her impressive playing resume includes numerous state amateur titles and a trip to the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur at Brae Burn Country Club in 1975. Following a two-year stint on the LPGA tour, Mohler returned to competitive golf and has won the Pennsylvania State Women's Golf Association Senior Championship and has qualified for match play at the U.S. Women's Senior the last four years. She reached the quarterfinals of that event in 2007 and 2009. She also played on the 1977 U.S. Curtis Cup team.

Here are more details about the exciting USGA event coming to the Bay State!

Dates - June 11, 12 & 13, 2010
Location - Essex County Club, Manchester, Massachusetts
Attendance - Estimated at 2,500+ visitors per day.

Daily Format:
June 11 - Three morning foursome matches; three afternoon four-ball matches
June 12 - Three morning foursome matches; three afternoon four-ball matches
June 13 - Eight singles matches

The Curtis Cup is a biennial competition between the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. Each team consists of eight female amateurs.

Curtis Cup Noteworthy Facts

Officially titled "The Women's International Cup," the Curtis Cup is named for Essex County Club members Margaret and Harriott Curtis.
The 2008 Curtis Cup was played on the Old Course in St. Andrews
Former Curtis Cup players include such notables as Dottie Pepper, Beth Daniel, Julie Inkster, Christie Kerr, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie.

2010 Curtis Cup Highlights

The matches at Essex will be the first time that the three-day format is played in the United States.
The 2010 event marks the return of Curtis Cup play to its original site, as the competition was first played here in 1938.
Captain Noreen Friel Mohler, a Massachusetts native, hopes to continue the USA win streak of six matches.
The Curtis Cup matches will be nationally televised on the Golf Channel.

Essex County Club History

When Essex County Club opened in 1893, it was the first 9-hole course in New England.
Essex was the sixth member of the United States Golf Association.
World-famous golf course architect Donald Ross became the Club Professional in 1910, and redesigned the course during his tenure from 1910 to 1917.
The present third green is considered to be the oldest in the country.
Essex hosted the US Women's Amateur (formally known as the Ladies' National Amateur Championship) in 1897 and 1912, which was won by Margaret Curtis.
Margaret and Harriott Curtis won four US Women's Amateur titles between them.

Ticket information will be available soon. For questions or more information, please contact curtiscup@essexcc.org.