McCLOSKEY, POPSON, TUBERT COMPLETE USA CURTIS CUP TEAM

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

Far Hills, New Jersey – The United States Golf Association today announced the final three players to the eight-player team that will represent the USA at the 2012 Curtis Cup Match, to be conducted June 8-10 at The Nairn Golf Club in Scotland.

The players are:

Lisa McCloskey, 20, of Houston, Texas
Erica Popson, 20, of Davenport, Florida
Emily Tubert, 19, of Burbank, California.
These three players join
Amy Anderson, 19, of Oxbow, North Dakota
Lindy Duncan, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Austin Ernst, 19, of Seneca, South Carolina
Tiffany Lua, 20, of Rowland Heights, California
Brooke Pancake, 21, of Chattanooga, Tennessee
These six players were named to the team in late December.
“I am so pleased that Lisa, Erica and Emily have been named to the 2012 Curtis Cup Team,” said USA team captain Patricia Cornett.
“I could not have asked for a more talented and dedicated trio of players to have been selected. My congratulations go to each on this honor.”
McCloskey, a senior year (fourth) student at the University of Southern California, was the runner-up to Tubert at the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. She qualified for the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women's Open Championships, finishing as the third-lowest amateur in 2010.
Popson, a junior (third year) student the University of Tennessee, is coming off a stand-out sophomore season for the Lady Vols, during which she won four tournaments, including the 2011 Southeastern Conference Championship. She also tied for first at a fifth event, making her the first collegiate player to win medallist honors at four consecutive tournaments since Lorena Ochoa won seven in a row in 2001-02.
Tubert, a sophomore (second year) student at the University of Arkansas, defeated McCloskey to win the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. She followed that victory with an outstanding freshman season at Arkansas, in which she won three tournaments and earned first-team All-America honors. All eight members of the USA Team were named to the National Golf Coaches Association’s All-American first or second team in 2011.
The alternates (reserves) for the USA Team are, in order of ranking:
Erynne Lee, 18, of Silverdale, Washington
Marina Alex, 21, of Wayne, New Jersey.
The Curtis Cup Match is a biennial international women’s amateur golf competition between eight-player teams from the United States of America and Great Britain and Ireland.

The USA won the 2010 Match at Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., 12.5-7.5.

Full biographical information on the players can be found at http://www.usga.org/news/2011/December/2012-USA-Curtis-Cup-Team-Bios/. More information on Cornett can be found at http://www.usga.org/NewsSF.aspx?id=2147496068.

The Curtis Cup Match consists of six foursomes (alternate-shot) matches, six four-ball matches and eight singles matches over three days of competition. The USA Team has won the last seven Matches and leads the series, 27-6-3.


Fit again Erica Popson's college wins earn her
first trip outside USA - to Scotland

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE

By Beth Ann Baldry
Erica Popson was not on my Curtis Cup radar. Why? Because she hasn’t played in a USGA event since the 2008 U.S. Girls’ Junior.
“I thought there was no way I was going to get picked because of that,” Popson said. Luckily for Popson, the USGA’s International Selection Committee didn’t hold that against her.
She became the first player from the University of Tennessee to be named to a Curtis Cup team on the strength of an outstanding college resume. She won four times last season, including the SEC Championship and NCAA West Regional titles. She’s currently No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
The trip to Scotland in June will be her first time outside the country.
So why the slim summer schedule? Popson injured the thumb on her left hand two and a half years ago and realised quickly that she needed the time off in the summer to give it some rest.
Doctors thought it was tendonitis or a joint problem that she’d have to learn to live with. Last fall, however, the pain grew worse and she found it difficult to perform basic daily functions like put on deodorant or button a shirt, let alone grip a golf club.
She sought a second opinion and wound up having surgery in November after the fall season. Popson is happy to report that she’s now pain-free and back to hitting full shots.
The injury gave her plenty of time to work on her short game, which ultimately helped her become a stronger college player. Now she’ll have the chance to match that effort on the range and see where it takes her.
“Now that it’s fixed, I can do whatever I want,” said Popson.
Like travel overseas.