The Oldest Curtis Cupper

via curtiscup.co.uk

The Curtis Cup begins on Friday. It was first played in 1932, and the 2008 Curtis Cup will be the 35th match in the series. Each match is preceded by a dinner for past Curtis Cup players, and this year the lady pictured above was among the attendees.

She's Phyllis Wylie, 97 years old. The LGU says:

Phyllis lives in Troon. It was as Phyllis Wade, the English champion of 1934, that she played for GB&I in the fourth Curtis Cup match – at Essex Golf Club, Manchester, Massachusetts in 1938 when transatlantic crossings were made by boat and took rather longer than today.

Wylie, nee Wade, earned half a point for the GB&I team back in '38, teaming with a Mrs. J.B. Walker to halve with the American tandem of Marion Miley and Kathryn Hemphill.

That same day one of the other American teams was the pairing of Glenna Collett Vare and Patty Berg. Those two legends alse partnered one another in 1936. And the failed to earn a point either time (although both earned points in singles).

Here's to you, Phyllis Wylie. Hope to see you again in 2010.