Headline: Pam Kuong, Chelsea Curtis & Claire Sheldon to Represent Team Massachusetts at the Final USGA Women's State Team Championship
For Immediate Release: September 21, 2017
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From left: Pam Kuong, Chaire Sheldon & Chelsea Curtis |
Norton, Mass. – Three Massachusetts natives will be among competitors from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who will vie for one more USGA Championship trophy next week when they head to The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the 12th playing of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship.
This year’s championship, taking place from September 26-28, marks the final State Team Amateur Championship for both women and men before the event is retired after a nearly 22-year run.
Looking to build off their fourth place finish in 2015, when they finished only 10 strokes behind the national champion squad from Georgia, veteran returnees Pam Kuong and Chelsea Curtis will be joined by newcomer Claire Sheldon as the Bay State representatives at the biennial championship. The selection of the team was announced by WGAM Executive Director Cathleen Beach this past week.
“The Massachusetts Golf Community is ecstatic to have Pam, Chelsea and Claire represent their home state at the playing of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship next week in New Mexico,” said Jesse Menachem, the MGA's Executive Director. “All three have significant experience at the highest levels of competition and it’s that experience that will help guide them as this USGA Championship begins. We are excited to watch them compete and see how they do against the very best from each state.”
Here is a look at this year’s team:
This year’s Women’s State Team Championship is the fifth straight for Kuong, a Wellesley native who most recently was in Portland, Oregon for the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, where she advanced to match play. In addition to the senior amateur, Kuong also competed at the 2017 US Women’s Amateur Four Ball Championship and was a qualifier for the 2017 US Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. In addition to helping Massachusetts to a fourth place finish in the event two years ago, Kuong, a former Ohio Wesleyan University standout athlete, represented her home state in 2013, 2011 and 2009.
USGA Experience:
U.S. Women’s State Team Championship – 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017
U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship - 2011-2017
U.S. Women’s Amateur – 2015
U.S. Women’s Four Ball Championship – 2016, 2017
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship - 2007, 2008, 2010-14, 2017.
Quotes:
“Making the State team was a goal of mine for 2017. Now that this will be the last State team, this tournament will be very special to me. Sharing this experience with two friends and great players like Chelsea and Claire will be an opportunity I will always cherish. It's an honor to represent Massachusetts."
While Kuong has the most experience of the three, Chelsea Curtis is no stranger to the USGA State Team scene herself. A multi-time member of the WGAM Griscom Cup squad that competes annually against teams from New York and Philadelphia, the former Georgetown University women’s golfer will be making her third appearance in this Championship Proper when she heads to New Mexico next week. The South Boston resident Curtis, a 2005 WGAM Amateur Champion & Junior champion, spent two years on the LPGA Futures Tour. This is the sixth overall USGA Championship Proper for Curtis.
USGA Experience:
U.S. Girls Junior Championship – 2001, 2004
U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship - 2009
U.S. Women’s State Team Championship – 2009, 2015, 2017
Quotes:
“Massachusetts has a prolific history of golf, from Francis Ouimet to Pat Bradley to the many other professional and amateur golfers who have influenced and strengthened golf in our state. The passion and hard work of past Massachusetts golfers makes it even more special to be able to represent Massachusetts in the USGA State Team Championship.”
Finally, Claire Sheldon will be making her inaugural appearance for Massachusetts on this year’s USGA State Team. Despite never having competed in this particular event, the former Harvard University captain, who held a three-year stint as an assistant coach before founding her own company, Sheldon has a US Women’s Amateur Championship appearance and two US Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships under her belt. She says she is extremely excited to be able to compete in this event.
USGA Experience:
U.S. Women's Amateur Championship - 2009
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship – 2015, 2016
U.S. Women’s State Team Championship – 2017
Quotes:
“I'm really excited to play in the State Team Championship for three reasons. Chelsea and Pam are good friends and it will be a blast competing and spending time with them representing Massachusetts. This is also the final year that the State Team Championship is being held, which makes this experience all the more special, and bittersweet. The WGAM has been wonderful in helping us prepare for this event, and with the development of my golf game in general. I hope we can make a great showing for Massachusetts, the WGAM, and the MGA! I always view USGA tournaments as a great opportunity to travel and experience different parts of the country. I have been to New Mexico once before, but I was much younger. In addition to playing golf, I'm looking forward to exploring Santa Fe, and hopefully checking out the famous Georgia O'Keefe Watercolor Museum.”
(From The USGA Website): The USGA Women’s State Team Championship, in 1995, like the men’s version, grew out of the celebration of the Association’s Centennial and was fashioned after the biennial World Amateur Team Championship.
Each state was invited to send its three best players, and 43 states sent women’s teams to compete for the new title at the Lake Buena Vista (Fla.) Club. State associations were given the option to choose their teams by any method, with one restriction: current members of college teams were ineligible because of NCAA bylaws.
This is only the second USGA Championship to be contested in New Mexico.
Format:
All 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are eligible to field teams of no more than three individuals and competitors must reside in state or territory and cannot be an active college player.
The 54-hole, stroke play tournament will see two of the three scores from each round count towards the team’s daily photo. A cut after 36 holes will be made to the low 21 teams and ties, plus any individual who is within five strokes of the lead.
Tee Times:
Kuong, Curtis and Sheldon will be paired with players from Florida and Alabama in Rounds 1 and 2 of the USGA Women’s State Team Championship. Included in the pairings alongside the Massachusetts competitors are Alexa Pano and Tara-Joy Connelly, both from Florida, who have ties to the Bay State. Pano was born in Massachusetts while Connelly, a former Futures Tour Player, is also a former Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Champion and served on the coaching staff of the Boston College Women’s Golf Team.
Round 1 (September 26):
7:00 AM (Hole 1): Chelsea Curtis, Alexa Pano (Florida), Susan West (Alabama)
7:10 AM (Hole 1): Claire Sheldon, Tara-Joy Connelly (Florida), Cammie Gray (Alabama)
7:20 AM (Hole 1): Pam Kuong, Meghan Stasi (Florida), Michaela Morard (Alabama)
Round 2 (September 27):
11:50 AM (Hole 10): Chelsea Curtis, Alexa Pano (Florida), Susan West (Alabama)
12:00 PM (Hole 10): Claire Sheldon, Tara-Joy Connelly (Florida), Cammie Gray (Alabama)
12:10 PM (Hole 10): Pam Kuong, Meghan Stasi (Florida), Michaela Morard (Alabama)
Follow the USGA Women's State Team:
Championship Home Page: http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2017/usga-women-s-state-team.html
Full Field Tee Times:
Follow on Social Media:
Be sure to follow the USGA on Twitter & Instagram (@usga) and with #WomensStateTeam
