David Hughes
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
They didn’t return to Putnam County with any giant-sized hardware Monday.
But 17-year-old Chelsea Samuels of Greencastle and her grandmother, Gloria Curtis of Cloverdale, made the Terre Haute Women’s City Match Play Championships a fun family affair at Rea Park Golf Course.
“It made me more relaxed because I knew somebody here,” Samuels said of being able to compete in the same tournament as her grandmother for the first time.
“It’s kind of a dream for me,” Curtis admitted about the unique situation. “You always dream that a granddaughter will follow your interests and we’d be able to play in a tournament like this together.”
Curtis said she offered simple advice to Samuels before the tournament: “Have fun and just relax.”
Samuels — a senior-to-be at Greencastle High School, where she’s a member of the girls golf and girls basketball teams — reached the championship match of the first flight but lost to Sandy Stabler 4 and 2 Monday.
“I played decent,” assessed Samuels, who’d like to continue playing golf and major in physical therapy at a college in 2011. “I’ve played better. I could have played better. But it was good experience in preparing me for the upcoming high school season.”
A regional qualifier in girls golf and 6-foot starting center on the Tiger Cubs’ girls basketball team this past season, Samuels said she started hitting golf balls at age 5 and debuted in organized golf when she became a high school freshman three years ago.
“My grandma got me into golf and got me into this tournament,” she noted.
Curtis, a 20-year veteran of competitive golf, said she was invited by Stabler to enter the Terre Haute Women’s City in 2008 and she’s been back ever since. This year, Curtis lost to Morgan Patterson in the second-flight consolation bracket Sunday.
Curtis is the mother of golfer Dan Samuels, who is the father of Chelsea Samuels. Both women plan to enter this tournament again next year.
“I like it very much,” Curtis said. “It’s very enjoyable.”
A mother-daughter combination also participated in the 2010 Women’s City. Linda Price (mother) won the consolation bracket of the second flight Monday and Diana Price (daughter and an Indiana State University golfer) lost a 1-up heartbreaker to eventual overall champion Rachael Pruett on Sunday.
