In June, the United States defeated the team of Great Britain & Ireland in the 2018 edition of the Curtis Cup. The outcome – 17 to 3 in favor of the United States – represented the most decisive victory in the 40 editions of this biennial match-play event held between the best amateur female golfers from the United States, Great Britain and Ireland.
Over the years, the Curtis Cup has become a proven breeding ground for future stars of the LPGA and legends of the game. There are 13 Hall of Fame Members who have participated in the Curtis Cup either as a player or captain: Judy Bell, Patty Berg, JoAnne Carner, Beth Daniel, Laura Davies, Juli Inkster, Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Hollis Stacy, Louise Suggs, Glenna Collette Vare, Joyce Wethered, and of course, Carol Semple Thompson. The Curtis Cup has helped groom future Solheim Cup participants as there are 28 players who have competed in both events.
World Golf Hall of Fame Member Carol Semple Thompson has been involved in 13 Curtis Cup events as either a player or captain. Inducted into the Hall in 2008, Thompson was a seven-time USGA National Champion and the first person to compete in 100 individual USGA competitions. Over the years, she gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the greatest amateur golfers of all-time.
Thompson is known for having a competitive spirit on the course. Virginia Grimes, the captain of the winning 2018 squad and a two-time Curtis Cup teammate of Thompson’s, has described her as a fierce competitor.
“As a player, she was very competitive,” Grimes said. “It might not show in her demeanor on the course, but inside she always wanted to beat you. It didn’t matter what it was.”
Thompson’s competitive spirit paid the ultimate dividends in 2002 when she sank a pressure-packed 27-foot putt on the 18th green to defeat Vikki Laing and retain the Cup for the United States. The fact that it came in Fox Chapel, just a drivable par-5 from her hometown of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, made the moment even more memorable for Thompson.
“I cannot imagine a better script than this happening here, in a Curtis Cup match, with me plodding along, struggling to pull myself back to all square and then finally going ahead,” Thompson said following her match. “I think this has to rank up there as far as any Curtis Cup experience that I’ve had.”
As a captain in 2006 and 2008, Thompson would use her experiences as a player to keep the pressure of the competition from becoming a distraction for her players.
“I think she was a player’s captain,” said Paige Mackenzie, currently a host on Golf Channel and a member of the 2006 Curtis Cup team. “She knew you were going to go out there and take care of business. As long as you took care of your match, the team was going to do fine. She trusted us to go out and do what we were capable of doing.”
As captain in 2006 – an 11½ to 6½ triumph for the United States – Thompson took an active role in helping her team navigate the potentially difficult and windy conditions of the Pacific Dunes Course at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
“One of my favorite memories about Carol from that week was on the practice round days,” Mackenzie said. “She actually took her clubs out and was playing with us. It was so obvious that she was really competitive. She wanted to show us shots and how to work the ball in the wind. Even though she was past her competitive Curtis Cup days, you could see the drive, desire, and passion for the game.”
The 35th edition, contested 10 years ago on the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland, marked the 13th and final Curtis Cup event for Thompson. In her Curtis Cup swan song, Thompson led her squad to a 13 to 7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland. Future LPGA star and World Number One Stacy Lewis, who won all five of her matches that weekend, came away impressed with Thompson’s leadership.
“I think she’s just the greatest amateur player to ever play,” Lewis said. “We can all learn something from her.”
“I just remember the last thing she would always tell us was to just go out and kick butt,” Grimes recalled with a laugh. “To hear that from Carol was funny because she was kind of quiet – or everybody thought she was – but then on the inside really wanted to win.”
A winner of 62 amateur titles, and one of only 11 players to hold both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and Ladies’ British Open Amateur titles at the same time, Thompson never left any doubt about her will to win. Her imprint on the Curtis Cup is one that is unlikely to ever be matched.
Travis
Editor’s Note: This article is one of the excellent series of articles by Travis Puterbaugh and the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum describing the stories and background of women’s golf artifacts and displays from the Museum’s collection. See the complete series here.
Travis Puterbaugh is the Curator of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. He graduated from Loyola University of New Orleans with a B.A. in Communications, the University of South Florida with an M.A. in History, and has worked in the museum industry for 14 years. Travis considers getting to walk inside the ropes during Day One of the 2016 International Crown as the highlight of his time working for the Hall of Fame. Follow Travis on Twitter at @WGHOFCurator.
Feature Photos: (1) In 1982, Carol Semple Thompson competed in her 4th Curtis Cup competition, a 14 ½ to 3 ½ victory over Great Britain & Ireland at the Denver Country Club in Denver, Colorado. (2) Carol Semple Thompson’s locker at the World Golf Hall of Fame features items from her amateur playing career and Curtis Cup competitions, including a pin flag signed by participants in the 2006 Curtis Cup at Bandon Dunes.
All photos courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum
