Curtis Cup: GB&I Takes The Lead
Two-point cushion secured heading into Sunday Singles after another incredible day of action at Sunningdale.
Apparently the Curtis Cup teams did not get the memo.
Team match play events are supposed to be painstakingly intense, interspersed with occasional moments of brilliant shotmaking, anxiety leading to lousy shots than good ones, general awkwardness produced by formats rarely used in an otherwise individual game, and inevitable moments of high-profile choking. Throw in the nuances of a host venue like Sunningdale’s Old Course, with it’s tricky poa annua greens purportedly rolling at 10 feet, 8 inches on the Stimpmeter, and long makes are also unlikely.
Not for these 16 women.
Cooler, cloudier conditions on day two of the 43rd playing did little to dull the English countryside action, where Great Britain & Ireland opened up a 2-point lead heading into Sunday’s eight singles matches. GB&I are looking to win the Curtis Cup for the first time since 2016 at Dún Laoghaire after USA has won 11 of the last 13 biennial matches.
The home team will undoubtedly know America’s traditional lone wolf strength superiority shines in singles of these Cup events. That has never been more apparent than in Curtis Cup, where USA has taken 21.5 of 24 points in the last three editions.
In Sunday’s eight singles matches, the USA needs 5 points to retain the cup while GB&I needs 3.5 to win.
“No lead is ever big enough,” said Catriona Matthew, Captain of the GB&I squad. “In any kind of sport you'd rather be going in 7-5 up than being 7-5 down. There's still a long way to go. The Americans are going to come out fighting tomorrow. We've had a great day today, enjoyed today, but we'll be ready for tomorrow.”
Oh, another given of Cup events: Captains leaning heavily on sports clichés.
Each of the morning foursomes came down to the end or penultimate hole. In a gripping encounter, Lottie Woad and Sara Byrne overcame a 16th hole bogey to square a fantastic duel against Melanie Green and Rachel Kuehn. Woad and Byrne took the lead four times, recorded five birdies, but could not shake the Americans who never fell more than one hole down. Another GB&I bogey at 17 allowed the Americans to take their first lead of the day going to the last hole. But Green, the 22-year-old Women’s Amateur Champion in June, missed a five-footer for par at the 18th to win the match, allowing Woad’s par putt to salvage a half-point.
In the third match out, the southern California duo of Catherine Park and Zoe Campos recorded a 2&1 win with seven (!!) alternate shot birdies to the six (!) recorded by Patience Rhodes and Beth Coulter 2&1. The Americans were five under par through 17 and led from the third hole on, but also saw birdies at the eighth, ninth and tenth holes matched by GB&I. Brilliant stuff by four first-time Curtis Cup participants.
Second out and finishing off the session by taking things to Sunningdale’s 18th, Hannah Darling and Aine Donegan holed a huge par putt to edge USA’s Anna Davis and Megan Schofill 1-up. Darling, a three-time All-American (via Scotland) at South Carolina and Donegan, who hung around the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open leaderboard for a time, took a 2 up lead at the 12th but parred in to hold on against USA’s formidable team.
In Saturday afternoon’s four-ball session, Scotland’s Darling and England’s Mimi Rhodes recorded nine birdies to beat the young California duo featuring 18-year-old Jasmine Koo and 15-year-old Asterisk Talley. In defeat, Talley hit the shot of the matches by driving the delicious 260-yard ninth hole for a near hole-in-one:
In the second match out, GB&I’s Beth Coulter and Lorna McClymont combined for a 2&1 win against USA’s Anna Davis and Melanie Green. It was a nice bit of revenge for McClymont, who lost in the The Women’s Amateur final to Green at Portmarnock in June. The 23-year-old Scot and Irish hope Coulter made eight birdies, with Coulter capping off the win with a stylish iron to four feet at the 16th for the winning birdie.
As if the first two matches were not satisfying enough, GB&I’s star duo of Woad and Byrne faced off in a wild back-and-forth match duel against Rachel Kuehn and Schofill with hopes of an afternoon sweep. Multiple long putts were made, including Woad’s 30-footer at the 12th and Schoffill’s 22-footer at 72 to get the match all square.
Kuehn and Byrne combined for a bogey free 66 while Woad and Byrne made seven birdies and one bogey.
“I think they're going to learn a lot from today,” said USA Captain Meghan Stasi. “It's a long day out there for most of them. I think they're going to learn a lot about each other's games a little bit more and just take that into tomorrow. We’ll get some rest, we'll chat a little bit and be back out early.”
Highlights from the session: