We have arrived at that biennial reminder that golf is often better when it involves a team concept. Which of course carries this footnote about golf teams: They can be led by star players, yes, but they succeed more fruitfully when those unheralded names deeper in the lineup rise to the occasion.

For reasons totally connected to this week’s Ryder Cup where the U.S. captain is Keegan Bradley and one of those who is working on his behalf behind the scenes is Jon Curran, our attention turns to a spirited young woman who had a gift for the game and whose story personifies what is so great about golf.

Kim Donovan, you see, represents a remarkable slice of sports achievement that should inspire, though you need to dig a little deep to appreciate what she accomplished. But given that so many mentions of Keegan Bradley dominate our golf talk on the threshold of the Ryder Cup, Kim Donovan’s name pops into the consciousness because of how she became part of a dynamic high school golf team that featured two future PGA Tour players, Bradley and Jon Curran.

Her simple desire to play golf came up against a stark and unfortunate reality given that golf has never excelled at the inclusiveness stuff: There were no golf teams for girls, not only at Hopkinton High School but pretty much everywhere. Thus was the challenge a most compelling one and Kim had to let her golf clubs do the talking.

Oh, how they spoke emphatically – not with words but with what is at the heart of competitive golf, numbers.

You want to let out a “you go, girl,” feel free. Kim Donovan and her story deserves it.

“Golf shaped my entire life,” she laughs. “What it taught me above all was to take ownership. It’s you and only you.”

In essence, she is correct; golf being such an individual quest. Except for those times when it’s a team game, like the Ryder Cup or like those high school days, which is the perfect segue to recall more than 20 years ago when a petite young girl gain everyone’s respect and a different light was shined on golf.

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It all fell together so fortunately and so beautifully. That’s the first thing Dick Bliss will tell you.

“It was such a unique opportunity, a special time,” said Bliss, who was the head golf coach at Hopkinton High School in the fall of 2003. Curran, a tournament winner on the AJGA circuit was the junior captain – a player so talented that he had already committed to Vanderbilt for the 05-06 season.

But over the summer, things had become even more promising for coach Bliss. First, with Mark Bradley having secured a club job in the Hopkinton area, his son Keegan had become friendly with Curran, who talked his friend into registering at Hopkinton High School.

That deal done, it remained to be seen how much of an impact Kim could make as a freshman. “Turns out, she could hold her own,” laughed Curran. “She played No. 3 and had like a 34, 35 scoring average.

“I’m not sure she even lost a match.”

What Curran does know is that his Hopkinton HS team went 17-1 and mowed down the opposition until it was the state final at which time the cream truly rose. Bradley shot 69 to win the individual title, Curran was next at 71, and Donovan went for 72.

The next year with Bradley a freshman in college at St. John’s, Curran again shined and Donovan stayed right in step. It was a second straight state championship for Hopkinton, Curran took the individual title with a 71, and Donovan by that point was established and no longer in the shadows of her two mentors.

Forever, Bliss will cherish the fact that two members of that team went on to play on the PGA Tour (Bradley at 39 is still going strong; Curran played the bulk of his 264 PGA Tour tournaments in the seasons 2015-18, though injuries derailed him) but he has a special place in his heart for Kim Donovan.

“She was very quiet, but so nice a person,” said Bliss, who admired how much time Kim’s parents, Susan and Steve poured into building a national schedule that cemented the young woman’s polish.

Kim Donovan went 2-1 for the 2005 U.S.Junior Solheim Cup team.

“I was always a little closer to Kim than Keegan and Jon and admired what it took for her to play on a boys’ team,” said Bliss. “There were a few times when (opposing) players picked on her a little, gave her a hard time, so I had to handle those things.

So much as Bradley and Curran continued on an upward golf trajectory after high school, much praise should be showered upon Donovan. “Look what she did,” said Curran, standing in a pulsating sunshine Monday at the Ryder Cup. “She went to Duke, a national power. She won AJGA events. Kim was such a great player. Oh, yeah, she could play.”

At Duke (2007-11) Donovan was a member of four teams that were always in the hunt for an NCAA title. Her teammates included names such as Amanda Blumenherst, Jennie Lee, Mina Harigae, Lindy Duncan, and Stacey Kim.

That Donovan triumphed at all levels, be it Mass Golf (between 1999-2006 she won four different state titles), high school, the AJGA, and competed against premier collegians remains a huge source of pride with her. A personal highlight is the 2005 Junior Solheim Cup where Kim Donovan helped the American girls win, 16-9, over a European team.

There was a four-ball win alongside Megan Grehan, a foursomes loss against a future three-time major winner named Anna Nordqvist, and a singles win over Belén Mozo. The memory offers validation that she took advantage of doors that golf opened for her and played at an elite level.

“But my favorite memories are the team moments; I cherish the friendships and relationships I built.”

That includes those days when she would stand on the practice green and feel the ground move when Keegan Bradley unleashed a thundering drive. “He would always cut the corner, up and over trees of a short, dogleg right par 4 (at Hopkinton Golf Club),” said Donovan.

And, yes, the herky-jerky pre-shot routine was present then, Bradley stepping toward the ball, falling back, then moving back into his stance. “It was his thumbprint,” she said.

To her, the lasting memory is of two kids who were inseparable. “Keegan and Jon would eat, sleep, breathe and golf and constantly drive to make one another battle.”

Kim and her husband, Michael Solomon, are parents of a daughter, Sloan, who just turned 2, and they both remain passionate about golf. (For years involved in private equities and investment banking, Kim now works at Brown University, helping manage their endowment.)

When she went to the Masters this year, Kim Donovan crossed paths with Keegan, who was inside the ropes, doing his thing so it wasn’t like there was a chance to reminisce. “But I said hi to him and it took him a second to sort of piece things together” before Keegan Bradley realized all these years later it was a high school teammate. He smiled.

And why shouldn’t he have? As a captain who is preaching the need for team unity at this week’s Ryder Cup, Kim Donovan represents to Keegan Bradley the depth that is needed to win; and Keegan Bradley represents to Kim Donovan the sort of leadership that puts other team members at ease.

“He never was intimidating, he was always setting a good example with his incredible drive,” she said.