Curtis Cup Off To Rousing Start
Matches tied 3-3 following Friday's four-ball session at Sunningdale.
Day one of the 43rd Curtis Cup had everything a fan of the biennial competition could hope for: back-and-forth matches, clutch shots, hole-outs, big crowds, blooming heather, crusty old bunkers, air hugs galore and, best of all, a 3-3 tie going into Saturday.
On a warm, bright day at glorious Sunningdale, USA took a 2-1 lead after morning foursomes that saw two of the matches came to the 18th hole.
The USA’s Melanie Green and Rachel Kuehn opened with a 6&4 win over sisters Patience and Mimi Rhodes.
“I think we got out of the gates running, made birdie on the first, and we never really took our foot off the gas,” said Kuehn, playing in her final event as an amateur.
The next two matches gave the large Friday gallery a nice precursor to the afternoon’s epic golf, when Irish duo Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan won the 18th with a par to secure a half-point in the lively back-and-forth joust against USA’s Jasmine Koo and Zoe Campos. Each side in the alternate shot format lead on three occasions.
Another halve came out of the final foursomes duel where leading amateur Lottie Woad, fresh off a T10 finish in the AIG Women’s Open, made two near-aces on Friday. With partner Sara Byrne, the pair erased a three-down deficit through nine holes against USA’s Catherine Park and Asterisk Talley with four birdies in a six-hole stretch to grab a 2-up lead with two holes to go. But Park and Talley responded by winning the last two holes to secure a half-point and USA’s 2-1 lead.
Captain’s Catriona Matthew sent two-of-three morning pairings back out, while USA’s Meghan Stasi penciled in three new duos for the four-ball session. The players delivered one of the more beautiful mergings of skill, design and course setup to produce thrills for all involved.
The USA’s Jasmine Koo and Asterisk Talley opened the session by making nine birdies in 14 holes to score a brilliant 5&4 victory over Mimi Rhodes and Lorna McClymont. The GB&I team managed to get to just two down through eight holes before Koo and 15-year-old Talley birdied the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th.
The middle match saw GB&I’s Hannah Darling and Aine Donegan eagled the par-5 second and made six birdies to hold off the star American duo of Anna Davis and Megan Schofill. The USA duo eagled the dynamic short par 4 ninth— played at 267 yards for the match—to take the lead before holding on with a 1 up lead all the way to the 423-yard finisher. There, Schofill drained an improbable putt for three to seemingly halve the match, only to watch Donegan make a 15-footer that capped off a sensational battle.
Friday’s final four-ball match saw the GB&I star duo of Byrne and Woad record eight birdies against Park and Campos. But the USA pair eagled the 10th hole and made five birdies to get the match all square going to the 15th. Byrne birdied the 408-yard 16th and chipped in at the 17th to secure a 2&1 win, tie the Curtis Cup matches, and produce a huge roar from a home gallery that included recent Open Championship runner-up Justin Rose.
Captain Matthew was “delighted” with her team’s comeback.
“At one point this morning it looked like we were going to be beaten three-nil, but then we had a good comeback,” she said. “The standard of golf has been pretty amazing. The Americans have made a lot of birdies, we've made a lot of birdies, and it was exciting out there in the four-balls. I can see in the team that their confidence is growing just from that finish there this afternoon.”
Stasi was equally pleased with the first day play.
“I think both teams played extremely well. It was a really good start for us in the morning,” Stasi said. “We had a couple all-square matches that we came back and fought for. I think they're going to learn a lot from today. It's a long day out there for most of them. I think they're going to learn a little bit more about each other's games and just take that into tomorrow."
A highlight package from the day: