Butler and McKenna key Irish ingredients

CLEARLY it is a disappointment not to have a representative in the home side, but Irish influence will still be considerable when Britain and Ireland open the defence of the Curtis Cup at Killarney tomorrow. Not least in this regard is the leadership of Ita Butler and the course set up devised by Mary McKenna.

The matches are to be played on the Killeen Course which enhanced its international reputation through the staging of the Irish Open in 1991 and 1992. It measured 7,121 yards when Nick Faldo captured those titles and it remains a formidable length, by women's standards.

Under McKenna's guidance, most of the men's forward tees are in use with the exception of the par four 12th. There, it was felt appropriate to build an entirely new tee, in between the men's forward and the women's tee, giving the hole a length of 356 yards. In fact the overall length of the course, at 6,228 yards for a par of 73, is 807 yards longer than the normal women's course which has a par of 74.

"My players are comfortable with the course which is more akin to the courses we are familiar with in the US, as against a links," said the US skipper Martha Lang yesterday. "Some of the fairways are very narrow and some of the rough is thick but, by and large, I consider it a fair and very good test."

The only problem Butler had was with the elements. We did most of our practice in the normal wind here but it has changed around completely," she said. As a consequence the par five, 456 yard 16th became comfortably reachable with a four iron so as to avoid the drain at the treacherous, 342 yard 17th it became necessary to use a long iron rather than a driver off the tee and the 18th was reduced from a two or three iron to a short iron approach.

"Obviously these are going to be crucial holes in deciding the outcome of matches solve have got to be certain that we adopt the right strategy," added Butler. "But I am very satisfied with the form of my players in practice. They seem to have knit together very well."

That particular process has been helped by the captain's 20 year son, Jonathan, a second year arts student at UCD. As one familiar with such matters, he was commissioned by his mother to put together a so called "psych up tape of pop music to prepare the home side for battle.

It is a compilation of material from such as Tina Turner (Simply The Best), Bob Marley, M People (Search For The Hero) and Queen. "I had to censor some stuff which was really way out," said his mother, who seems to be bridging the generation gap most effectively.

As a build up to the event, the American team competed early this month in the US Women's Open won by Annika Sorenstam at Pine Needles. Of the eight team members, Cristie Kerr was the only one to make the cut and she went on to capture the medal as leading amateur. The team arrived in Ireland last Friday and went directly to play Ballybunion. "It was a wonderful experience," said Lang.

They then travelled on to Killarney and intensive practice over the last five days. This became possible due to the decision of the club to close the course to all but the Curtis Cup participants since Friday last.

Most of the home side were at Killarney for two days a fortnight ago when they played a match against a GUI select side. They halved the foursomes and went on to win the singles by 6-2. GUI skipper, Frank McCarroll, was very impressed by the opposition and says that he is looking forward with optimism to attending the matches this week.

Meanwhile, the home team started their final build up last Sunday they played again on Monday did some individual practice on Tuesday and were back in action again yesterday. They also had the traditional dinner with the Americans on Sunday night but there has been no get together with the opposition since then.

That will happen at 6.0 p.m. this evening when the President, Mrs Robinson, attends the opening ceremony. She will be escorted into position by Dr Barbara Roberts, president of the Ladies' Golf Union who will invite Mrs Robinson to address the gathering. Her presence will also be acknowledged by the raising of the Irish flag, the American flag and the Union Jack.

Butler, who represented Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup in 1966 and in the World Cup in 1965 and 1966, went on to captain Ireland to its last victory in the Home Internationals, at Whittington Barracks in 1986. Her leadership qualities then gained LGU recognition, as captain of two victorious Vagliano teams in 1991 and 1994 and in the World Cup in 1994.

Did she regret the absence of an Irish player from the home lineup? "Wherever the match were played, it would be nice to have an Irish player in the team," she replied. "On this occasion, however, I'm satisfied that we have the best eight players. Sentiment cannot come into something as important as the Curtis Cup.