Stanford University professor Condoleezza Rice now likely to attend match

                     

MARIAH FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO 

BE SELECTED FOR CURTIS CUP MATCH

                     MARIAH STACKHOUSE, Stanford University No 1 female student-golfer

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Stanford University second-year student Marian Stackhouse has become the first African-American player to be named to the United States Curtis Cup team since the biennial matches against Great Britain and Ireland began in the 1930s

The team of eight for the June 6 to 8 match at St Louis Country Club, Missouri was announced on Thursday by the United States Golf Association.

Stackhouse's selection makes it very likely that former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,  pictured below, a political science professor at Stanford University, will attend the match.

"Making the Curtis Cup team is the biggest and most exciting accomplishment of my career so far," Stackhouse said. 

"I feel humbled and honoured to represent the USA on the biggest stage in amateur golf. I've gotten to know the ladies on this team over the years and they are all amazing golfers. It will be rewarding to compete alongside them for our country and build even better friendships."

Stackhouse will make the 22nd Curtis Cup appearance by a Stanford University player, and the first since Edinburgh-born Sally Watson in 2008 and 2010.

“This year’s USA Curtis Cup team is very strong,” said Scots-born Anne Walker, pictured right, Stanford’s Director of Women’s Golf. 

“There are 10 United States female amateurs ranked inside the top-18 in the world, which I am sure made this team announcement extremely difficult for the International Selection Committee.
 "We at Stanford are very proud of Mariah and her continued level of excellent play throughout the season. She will be a tremendous representative for the United States squad and undoubtedly one of their best team players, as she is for the Stanford women’s golf team.”

GB and I are the holders of the Curtis Cup, having come from behind on the final day at The Nairn Golf Club in June 2012 to beat the Americans.
The United States has not lost on home soil since 1986 when GB and I won 13-5, at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas 
The USA has won five of six Curtis Cup home matches since then, the only exception being 1994, when the teams tied 9-9 at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Tabbed sixth in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, Stackhouse was one of 14 players invited earlier this year to participate in a USA practice session for the Curtis Cup. The session for prospective players was conducted Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.

Stackhouse took medalist honours at the UC Irvine Invitational earlier this spring, earning an exemption into the Kia Classic in the process. She declined an invitation to the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship because of a conflict with a college tournament.

Stackhouse, a veteran of two U.S. Women’s Opens, will compete in the San Diego State Farms Invitational on March 24-26 for Stanford and then tee it up at the Kia Classic on March 27. 

The native of Riverdale, Georgia will get a practice round on the Saturday before the tournament.

Stackhouse has four career collegiate wins and seven top-10 showings this season.

The Great Britain and Ireland team of eight, for the first time, will mainly pick itself through the World Amateur Rankings (four best placed GBandI players) and the Ladies Golf Union Order of Merit (two best placed GBandI players who have not qualified through the WAGR) with only two "wild card" selections. The LGU team announcement will be made on Tuesday, May 6.
CURRENT WAGR STANDINGS
4 Stephanie Meadow
8 Georgia Hall
39 Bronte Law
62 Hayley Davis
64 Gemma Dryburgh
70 Annabel Dimmock
71 Chloe Williams
75 Gabriella  Cowley
LGU ORDER OF MERIT
1 Georgia Hall
2 Gabriella Cowley
3 Leona Maguire
4 Paula Grant
5 Meghan MacLaren
6 Chloe Ryan
7 Alex Peters
8 Lisa Maguire
9 Annabel Dimmock
10 Eilidh Briggs

The full United States team, all college players, is:

• Kyung Kim, 19, of Chandler, Ariz. (University of Southern California)
• Alison Lee, 19, of Valencia, California (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Erynne Lee, 21, of Silverdale, Washington State (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Ally McDonald, 21, of Fulton, Mississippi (Mississippi State University)
• Annie Park, 18, of Levittown, New York (University of Southern California)
• Ashlan Ramsey, 18, of Milledgeville, Georgia (Clemson University, South Carolina)
• Mariah Stackhouse, 19, of Riverdale, Georgia (Stanford University, California) 
• Emma Talley, 19, of Princeton, Kentucky (University of Alabama)
  All eight players are among the top 25 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, with Park (No. 2), Alison Lee (No. 3), Ramsey (No. 7), McDonald (No. 9) and Kim (No. 10) in the top 10. 
  The alternates for the USA Team are, in order of ranking:
   Doris Chen, of Bradenton, Florida, and Lauren Diaz-Yi, of Thousand Oaks, California.
  Full biographical information on the eight USA players and Port can be found at www.curtiscup.org.
  
  
•  Six-time USGA champion and two-time USA Curtis Cup Team member Ellen Port will serve as captain of the USA Team for the 38th Match.
  “I am so proud of these players and excited for what is ahead for this team,” said Port, a St. Louis native. 
  “Representing your country in the Curtis Cup Match is one of the highest honours a female amateur player can receive, and I know these women are more than up to the task. We are all looking forward to June and the opportunities that are ahead of us.”

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