CONWY, NORTH WALES | It maybe needed both trophy presentations to Sarah Ingram, the American Curtis Cup captain, for the penny to drop that she had won the greatest team trophy in women’s amateur golf. Though Great Britain & Ireland had romped into an unheard-of 4½–1½ lead after the first day at Conwy Golf Club, Wales, the United States went on to grab all but three of the remaining 14 points to win, 12½-7½.
The initial trophy presentation was made on the first tee for the benefit of Sky Sports Golf. As for the second, that was for all those members and spectators who had added enough colour and good cheer to make sure the occasion was anything but a sad affair. In so many ways, the 41st match was up there with the best of Curtis Cups.
The moment the Americans won the match was moving in the extreme. The only US parents who succeeded in coming to Wales amid the various COVID-19 restrictions were Brenda Corrie Kuehn and her husband, Eric. They came to watch daughter, Rachel, play for the US team.
“I’m going over there if I have to swim,†Brenda had told Eric when it seemed as if the two of them were not going to make it. But by Saturday night, Brenda was in tears when Rachel did as she had done in the 1998 match in bagging the all-important decisive point for the USA. Where Brenda had holed a downhill left-to-right putt from 4 feet, the memory of which sends a shudder down her spine to this day, her daughter had an easier time of it as Louise Duncan ran up a 7 to her 5 at the 18th.
When some among Kuehn’s team-mates came running on to the green to say the match was won, Kuehn looked up and said: “Excuse me, what was that?â€
“You’ve just won the winning point,†they chorused. Moments later, they were enjoying a few celebratory shrieks before going out to watch the denouement of the last couple of games.
If ever there was a contest to capture the very best of golf, this was it.
At the start of the day, Hannah Darling – out first against recent US Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle – had seemed set to bring in precisely the kind of opening result GB&I needed. The Scot was 3 up with four to play. However, her point was reduced to a mere half when the American birdied the 18th. All of which left Caley McGinty, with her win against Gina Kim, as the only GB&I player to collect a full point.
On Friday night, GGP had a question for each in turn of America’s Rose Zhang and GB&I’s Darling, two players who were at once the youngest in the contest and the highest points scorers at that point. What would they say if they were asked to stand up and give their respective team talks?
It was Zhang’s turn first. “I’d remind our players to stay motivated and I’d remind them that Americans can handle pressure and that they never give up,†she said. “I’d tell them that they’re all amazing and that they’ve got to trust themselves because they’ve got every shot in the bag.â€
Darling kept things simple: “This is our time to shine. We’re all strong players and we need to feel proud.â€
On Saturday, the Americans certainly did as Zhang had suggested in staying motivated.
GB&I could only shine in patches. “Almost all our players were still in with a chance around the 10th, 11th and 12th,†GB&I captain Elaine Ratcliffe said. “They were all capable of doing what was needed after that but, on the day, only a couple of them did it.†Quite rightly, Ratcliffe was more inclined to heap praise on the Americans and the way they had gone up a gear.
Though Ratcliffe did not think that the grand performances of Duncan, Annabell Fuller and Lauren Walsh in making the cut at the previous week’s AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie would have made it hard for them to find the same level of intensity at the Curtis Cup, Ingram was not so sure. In the case of Duncan, who had a top-10 finish among the best in the world, Ingram said she secretly had hoped that her magic might evaporate.
“What Louise did at Carnoustie was amazing, and all the more so when she was playing in front of an adoring home crowd and a world-wide TV audience,†Ingram said.
The US captain added that though three of her players had done as Duncan, Fuller and Walsh in arriving late at Conwy when they played at the LPGA Q-School in California, they were not being pursued by the media. Not too many on this side of the Atlantic had the first idea of what they had been up to. At the same time, Ingram was gracious enough to acknowledge that her side had been lucky with the Welsh weather. GB&I, as you would imagine, would sooner have had rain and a testing wind.
If ever there was a contest to capture the very best of golf, this was it. Unlike the Open, which can nowadays add up to a bit of an R&A takeover, the friendly members of Conwy were involved every step of the way, with their tasks including everything from months of filling in divots to running their own on-course pubs during the week. They wanted their links to shine and, with the cameramen having a field day with shots of everything from Conwy Castle to mountains and marinas, shine it did. Who would not want to include Conwy Golf Club in their list of venues to visit?
Of course, the R&A played its part. Apart from letting the members have their say, they poured money into the match with a view of bringing it to the same level as the Walker Cup and were first-class with the organisational process. There was, though, just the one blip to cause a mass of raised eyebrows at the opening ceremony.
In spite of everything the R&A has been saying about seeking equality for women golfers, the eight committee dignitaries they summoned to the stage consisted of seven men and just one woman. Andrea Hughes, the women’s captain of the club, was the exception.
When JR Jones, the men’s captain and himself a Royal & Ancient Golf Club member, realised what was in store, he insisted Hughes should make the main address.
Hughes did not have much time to prepare her speech. However, the sudden call to action hardly constituted an emergency for someone who, as the local harbour master, is responsible for keeping 700-plus vessels afloat on the Conwy Estuary.
Top: Rachel Kuehn takes a selfie with Team USA after defeating Great Britain & Ireland.
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