Nov. 10, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C.c - Chelsea Curtis has been on roller coasters before. She likes the ride and enjoys the thrill of the ups and downs that go with the amusement park ride. What the Georgetown University senior women's golf captain doesn't like so much is a roller coaster ride when she is on the course. A roller coaster ride is how Curtis describes parts of her first three years on the Hilltop. Something, however, happened over the summer of 2008. Curtis stayed in Washington rather than returning home to Massachusetts. She worked with Head Coach Patty Post and her husband and Volunteer Assistant Coach Brendon Post. Post, a former professional player on the LPGA Tour, and her husband worked with Curtis on her swing and the senior-to-be played as much as she could. Intent on making her senior year one that she would not forget, Curtis started to get into the swing of things. She capped off a strong summer by reaching the finals of the North/South Amateur, one of the top amateur events in the country for women's golfers, at the famed Pinehurst Course in North Carolina. "After playing well at Pinehurst, I definitely gained a lot of confidence," Curtis said on Monday after wrapping up a strong fall season for the Hoyas. "I played with the best and I was able to beat many established and well-recognized golfers. It helped me realize that I can shoot the low numbers that I wanted to. You really have to believe you can shoot a certain score before you actually get there." Believing that she could get there was the first step. A golf course rat - Curtis grew up on a course in her hometown of Mashpee on Cape Cod - she has played the sport since she was a youngster. Curtis dabbled in some other sports - soccer among them - but it was on the golf course that she found her home. Attracted to Georgetown by its strong academic reputation and rising golf program, she decided to come to Washington DC for her college career.
During her first three years on the Hilltop, Curtis was among the top players on the team. Her stroke average hovered the 76-78 range and she posted several top-10 finishes. Determined to better her performance on the course as a senior, Curtis made the decision to stay in D.C. during the summer and work on her game. "I would say that I'm most pleased with my ball striking, particularly with my irons and my short game," Curtis said. "By staying in D.C., I was able to work with Coach Post and change my swing. My swing is now more consistent than it was before and has greatly changed my iron play. "It's the reason why I'm consistently shooting lower numbers rather than a roller-coaster of scores like I used to. My short game has been something I'm happy to say is one of my stronger suits now." Curtis ranks 39th in the country on non-sand up-and-down percentage at .609 and 50th in the country in total short game. Curtis ranks among No. 153 among nearly 3,000 women's college golfers in the country. The Hoyas started the season out competing with the best in the country, serving as the host of the NCAA Fall Preview, a tournament that brings the best teams in the nation together to play on the course that will serve as the site for the 2009 NCAA Championship. (Georgetown is the host). Curtis led Georgetown in the tournament, but her scores - a tie for 61st place with a 27-over par 243 - did not reflect what was to come. She followed that up with four top-five finishes in Georgetown's last four tournaments, including a win at the Princeton Invitational. "Winning Princeton was great," Curtis said. "I played well and was able to pull of yet another playoff to claim the title." Her personal best performance, however, was not a win. It came a week later at the Badger Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin. It was funny to Curtis that her best outing came there. Last year, while warming up, Curtis was struck in the head with a club and ended up playing the 36 holes that day with a bandage on her head. To this day, Curtis still has a mark on her head from the strike, which gave her a mild concussion. Curtis was tied for fourth place entering the final round, but shot a two-over par 74 in the final round and was able to tie for second place, just three strokes off the lead. "The course and field was much more challenging than Princeton and I felt that my game was the best there," Curtis said. "I shot my lowest 54 at 218 and came in second. I played with very few mistakes. I just could not get the putter going for those birdies the last day, which lost my chance at the win." And while individual wins are nice, what Curtis wanted more than anything was to have her senior year be one that she would remember. "Being that it is my last season, myself and others keep mentioning how it is my last time to do this and that," Curtis said. "It is sad to know this is my last year as a Georgetown student-athlete, but I don't want to harp on trying too hard to play well in my final season because it only makes things worse. I try to keep the same mentality as any other tournament in the past three years just with a lot more appreciation for college golf." One of the things that has made her appreciate playing golf at Georgetown more are the bonds that she has formed during her time on the Hilltop. "We have a great balance of experience and youth," Curtis said. "Our underclassmen have shown dedication and enthusiasm that has added to our team. We have upperclassmen that are playing well and know the ropes." Curtis, along with fellow senior and co-captain, Carly Hunt, have been the team's leaders. After the team's debut at the NCAA Fall Preview, they closed out the fall by posting four top-10 finishes. "I was very pleased with our team's performance this fall," she said. "We had a challenging fall with tournaments against many high ranked schools. I am happy that our upperclassmen have improved from last year and our freshmen were able to contribute some great scores for their first semester." The best outing for the team came in the final tournament, the Lady Pirate, hosted by East Carolina, the final event of the fall. "I was probably most excited by our performance there because we beat many schools ranked higher than us," Curtis said. "We shot some low numbers as a team, everyone contributed. We just need to work on our closing rounds on the last day to start winning tournaments." So now, with the fall season over and time to concentrate on her studies - she is a Human Science major - Curtis is eager to get the spring season started. "Now that we have the offseason to work out the kinks from the fall, I think we can come out strong," Curtis said. "We have a good mixture of tournaments. My goal for the team is to win one and I think that is absolutely possible." The work that she did this summer is one of biggest reasons for her success and Curtis aims to see that continue. "Coach Post is the major reason I have improved my game dramatically in the past few years," Curtis said. "She's a great coach, teacher and friend. I hope the ride this spring is as fun as the one during the fall." By Mike "Mex" Carey |
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