After playing on a record 12 Curtis Cup teams, Carol Semple Thompson is the team captain for the American squad this week. World Photo by Lou Sennick.

BANDON - Carol Semple Thompson has been on the Curtis Cup team a record 12 times.

This week, she's experiencing the international amateur event from the other side, as team captain for the United States.

It's been a time of joy for the 57-year-old Semple Thompson, who lives in Sewickley, Pa., with her husband, Richard.

“They're a great team,” said Semple Thompson. “I'm having a wonderful time with them.”

The American captain has seen a lot of great players in her Curtis Cup career, playing with Juli Inkster, Beth Daniel and Nancy Lopez, as well as numerous other LPGA stars. She knows good talent when she sees it, and likes what she sees in the eight Americans.

“I've been playing along side them about six rounds now, and I understand why I'm a nonplaying captain,” Semple Thompson said. “They've got it all. They've got the personality and the game.”

Semple Thompson had both those things, too, for a long, long time.

Born into a golfing family - her parents, Harton “Bud” Semple and Phyllis Semple both were scratch golfers - she won her first tournament at 16 years old, beating her mom in the final of the Western Pennsylvania Women's Championship.

She followed with a long, long line of titles, including winning the Pennsylvania State Amateur 21 times.

Semple Thompson, named the 2005 PGA First Lady of Golf, has won seven United States Golf Association championships - the 1973 Women's Amateur, the 1990 and 1997 Women's Mid-Amateurs and the 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Senior Women's Amateurs. Only Bob Jones, Joanne Gunderson Carner, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have won more USGA titles.

After Semple Thompson won the 1973 women's amateur, she won the British Ladies Open Amateur, holding both titles at the same time.

And then there is her long line of success as a player in the Curtis Cup.

Semple Thompson was chosen for the United States teams in 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. She has won a record 18 Curtis Cup matches - nine in singles and nine in foursomes. Her final putt as a player in the event, a 27-footer on the 18th hole of a singles match in 2002, clinched victory for the United States.

Asked how she was able to play so well for so long, she quickly replied, “I don't know,” before starting to tick off some of the things in her favor.

“I've been lucky in my health,” she said, adding that she has suffered relatively few injuries through the years.

“I worked hard on my golf for a long time. There was also a timing thing. I was able to stay at the top of the amateur game because the other people were turning pro. They were starting to use the Curtis Cup as a stepping-stone. That was to my benefit.”

Semple Thompson couldn't blame them. The opportunities for players who turn pro are much better now than they were when Semple Thompson graduated from Hollins University in 1970.

“Not turning pro - it was better in the long run for me,” she said.

As a lifetime amateur, Semple Thompson has been able to build an impressive resume. She has played in a record 102 USGA events. In addition to all her various amateur victories, she was low amateur at the U.S. Women's Open three different times.

Her involvement with USGA goes far beyond playing in tournaments, not surprising given her family background.

“I've been a USGA brat all my life,” she said.

Phyllis Semple first served on a USGA committee in 1955 and has been on various committees ever since. Bud Semple was USGA president in 1974 and 1975.

One of Semple Thompson's biggest thrills was in 1973, when she won the U.S. Amateur and received the trophy from her father, then the USGA's vice president.

“The president was there, but he stepped aside and let my father present the trophy,” she said.

Phyllis Semple had a big role in drawing USGA events to the family's home club, Allegheny Country Club, and two of Semple Thompson's most emotional national titles came there. She won the 1990 Women's Mid-Amateur at Allegheny the same year her father had died and the 2001 Women's Senior Open the week of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

When the USGA came calling to Semple Thompson to serve, she was ready with open arms. She was on the USGA Executive Committee from 1994 to 2000, becoming just the second woman on the committee. The first, Judy Bell, also was the organization's first president and is one of the people at Bandon Dunes this week for the Curtis Cup.

“When they asked me to be on the Executive Committee, it was a huge thrill,” Semple Thompson said.

This week has been a thrill, too.

“I knew that when my playing days in the Curtis Cup were over I'd like to try (being captain),” she said.

Since she was selected for the role by USGA, she's been looking forward to this week, though she expects it to be a challenge, especially when she gets around to selecting who is going to play each round - two of the eight players sit out each day in the morning foursomes and the afternoon singles.

“That's one of the challenges,” she said. “It's a combination of nerve-wracking and pressure-filled.”

Another key role of being captain, mentally preparing the golfers, should be much easier because Semple Thompson has such an extensive background to draw from.

“When push comes to shove on Friday evening at our team dinner, I'll probably talk about a few things,” she said.

“I'll emphasize how important each point is, and even if they're down in a match, they have to keep fighting.”

That's because and point, or half point if a match ends in a draw, can help the United States toward its goal of keeping the Curtis Cup. The Great Britain & Ireland team must win at least 9 1/2 points to take the cup away from the American squad.

Aside from the competition, though, Semple Thompson wants her players to take home something else from the experience.

“Certainly, the most important thing for us is to make new friends - to meet the people from the other countries and see they are similar to us,” she said.

Similar, maybe, but none quite like the distinguished amateur serving as captain for the Americans this week.