The countdown has started with a vengeance towards the 8-10 June staging of the 37th Curtis Cup encounter at The Nairn Golf Club, – a biennial, eight-a-side three-day match between the best female amateur golfers in Great Britain & Ireland and their counterparts from the United States.
GB & I last won the trophy at Killarney, Ireland in 1996 but last summer’s Astor Trophy success at Fairhaven GC, Lancashire, where skipper Tegwen Matthews’ team of five beat New Zealand, Canada, Australia and South Africa to win the once-every-four-years tournament, has raised hopes that the tide may turn in this year’s Curtis Cup match at Nairn.
It’s a venue that has brought the best out of GB & I teams in the past. In 1991, they beat the Continent of Europe in the Vagliano Trophy match. Then, in 1999, the GB & I men’s team beat the Americans in the Walker Cup contest.
Peter McEvoy, who captained that winning squad 13 years ago, says:“The area obviously delights in such international competition and provided crowds that showed such a passion and support that it amounted to a 2pt start!”
The Nairn Golf Club is extremely honoured to be selected to host the 2012 Curtis Cup match. The membership and committee of the club, together with the town and surrounding golf clubs, look forward to welcoming the players, officials and supporters of both teams to a wonderfully scenic area on the coast of theMoray Firth.
The event artist will be Lucy Tormey. Lucy, a native of Mullingar in the lakelands of Co. Westmeath,Ireland, is an avid golfer and artist with a particular interest in the great game.
She says: “Having developed my artistic style over the past number of years, I finally felt it was time to bring my passions for art and golf together. In recent years I have been attending tournaments, absorbing the atmosphere and working in the studio with my strongest memories.
“I tend not to photograph, but rather work with visual memories, clues and symbols that relate to a given golf course and event. I think it helps a little that I understand the game and I aim to bring that experience to the images.”
Lucy has been commissioned by the LGU to produce an original artwork to commemorate the match. Golfers will be able to view some of her work when the first advertising poster arrives in their golf clubs this week.
“I am excited to be associated with the 2012 Curtis Cup match at The Nairn Golf Club and am currently working on some images. The game deserves to be portrayed in a modern, fun and yet serious manner. The Curtis Cup will be contested by athletes at the very top of their amateur careers – I am trying to honour that in the work that I am making,” says Lucy.
Lucy Tomey www.lucytormey.net
Ladies’ Golf Union www.lgu.org