Curtis Cup: Tegwen Matthews’ ‘frank’ team talk proved timely wake-up call

TEGWEN Matthews, the home side’s captain, revealed that a “frank and honest” team talk during the lunch break had enabled Great Britain & Ireland to be in a position where they are still clinging to the American coat tails heading into the second day at Nairn.

The Welsh woman admitted her side had made “schoolboy errors” as they lost the morning session but heaped praise on the GB&I players for the spirit they showed to win the afternoon session 2-1 after being down in all three of the matches at one point.

“I’m a whole lot happier than I was after nine holes this afternoon,” she said before jokingly adding: “I felt like slitting my wrists at that point.”

Matthews said she had been bitterly disappointed with the standard of golf from her players in the morning. Hence the need for some honest truths to be told before the second session.

“We had a frank and honest talk at lunchtime,” she said. “I pointed out that our scoring in the morning had been really poor. I know the conditions weren’t easy but that wasn’t the standard they had set in practice.

“Sometimes your judgment can be coloured when you come off the course but when you point stats out they speak for themselves so I asked everyone to be honest and learn from the mistakes we had made. It was a messy morning when we made schoolboy errors but we are in the right frame of mind again thanks to some fantastic digging from my girls.”

Now Matthews is looking for her players to bound back on to the first tee this morning with a spring in their step as they bid to lift the trophy for the first time in 16 years.

“At one point in the afternoon it was looking very dismal but I knew my players would dig deep and winning the last two matches is massive from a confidence point of view,” she added.

“I’ve got total respect and admiration for the way they stuck in and came through at the end.

“It means we are going into tomorrow on an up rather than a low and that we are back to full focus again.”

Pamela Pretswell, the sole Scot in the eight-strong GB&I team, described the fightback as “massive”. She added: “We are right back in there. It has given us a chance after a slow start. Everyone is playing well and we just need to hole some more putts.”

Left out of the morning session, Pretswell partnered Charley Hull, the world No 4, in the afternoon fourballs but they lost 4 and 3 to Amy Anderson and Emily Tubert in a low-scoring encounter.

“That was an awesome game of golf,” admitted the 23-year-old Bothwell Castle player. “They putted well, holing some long ones out there.”

Anderson also chipped in for a hole-winning birdie at the tenth to put the American pair three up. “That was a bit cheeky,” added Pretswell.

The Scot said she hadn’t minded sitting out the opening session after being ill with food poisoning earlier in the week. I’m fine now but not playing this morning probably wasn’t a bad thing,” she said.

“I walked 12 holes with one of the games (to get a feel for the conditions) and I was desperate to get on the tee this afternoon.”

Among those out on the links was Kelsey MacDonald, the Nairn girl who narrowly missed out on a dream Curtis Cup appearance on her own doorstep, and Laura Murray, winner of both the Scottish Women’s Championship and St Rule Trophy in recent weeks.