Team USA Off to Fine Start in Curtis Cup


After taking a 3-0 lead in Friday morning's four-ball competition, the American team tacked on two more points in the afternoon's three foursomes matches for a 5-1 lead after Day 1 of the 2014 Curtis Cup Match.

The biennial competition featuring the best women amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland is taking place at St. Louis (Mo.) Country Club. The USA leads the overall series 27-7-3, with GB&I the defending champions.

In the day's first match, Mariah Stackhouse - the first African-American to ever play in the competition - and partner Emma Talley beat Stephanie Meadow and Georgia Hall 2 and 1.

By identical 4 and 3 scores, the American duos of Allison Lee and Kyung Kim and Annie Park and Ally McDonald then edged GB&I's Annabel Dimmock and Gemma Dryburgh, and Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas, respectively.

In the afternoon foursomes, Meadow and Hall got a halve against Lee and Ashlan Ramsey, with USA's Erynne Lee and Park beating Eilidh Briggs and Gabriella Cowley 3 and 1.

In the day's final match, Dimmock and Law forged a halve over Talley and McDonald.

“I'm never one to get very excited with a big lead because I've seen them go away, but they did a great job,” said USA captain Ellen Port, a six-time USGA champion and two-time Curtis Cup competitor and St. Louis resident. “I think there were some great matches. There was a lot of energy, especially in the morning.”

GB&I captain Tegwen Matthews tried to emphasize the positive at the end of the day. “It's quite nice to finish on a high like that rather than not having it. I know it sounds probably silly saying that, only two half-points on the day, but you never know when that half-point just might make a difference.”

The Curtis Cup consists of six foursomes (alternate-shot) matches, six four-ball matches and eight singles matches over three days of competition. The format will be the same on Saturday, with three four-ball matches in the morning followed by three foursomes in the afternoon. The singles will be played Sunday.

It will be aired on Golf Channel. First-day coverage will be tape-delayed from midnight-2 a.m. EDT, with the four-ball and foursomes matches (June 7) and singles matches (June 8) airing live from 5-7 p.m. EDT.

For match scoring details, visit http://www.usga.org/ChampEventScoringIndex.aspx?eid=17179869201&year=2014&id=21474862246.