In My View - July/August 2004

If we could just change the format to six foursome matches and three singles, we might be able to make inroads into the overwhelming superiority that America hold in the thirty-three encounters so far. The US have accumulated twenty-seven and a half wins out of the thirty-three.

So why is it that we are so strong in one format, and so weak in the other? I think that primarily we are used to playing team golf, and the Americans are very much more individuals. Contrary to popular belief amongst the Americans, we do not play masses of foursomes, but we do play some – most usually in County weeks, and the Home Internationals. Sadly, this Curtis Cup match has come and gone, with the U.S.A. retaining the Cup with a 10-8 victory over GB&I.

The match was very much divided into a great performance by GB&I in the foursomes where we won five and lost one, and the singles, where GB&I won three and lost nine!

The Americans in contrast do not play any foursomes – or Scotch Foursomes as they call it. Contrast too the difference in preparation for this year’s match. Most of the GB&I Team had been part of the Elite Squad for the last two to three years, meeting regularly over that time for training get togethers and matches. Inbetween Curtis Cup matches, GB&I play against The Continent of Europe, and in a Commonwealth tournament every four years. All the players know each other, and their Captain well. All but one of the Americans met Martha Kirouac – their Captain for the first time two weeks prior to the match when they had a three day get together at Sea Island.

Some of the Americans hadn’t even met their team mates until then. Everything about the Americans preparations reinforced the players individuality. It is not suprising therefore that they are more comfortable playing as individuals rather than as a team.

When it came down to it I think that the American team this year were one of the most talented ever. I firmly believe that five year’s down the line at least half of their team will be very successful professionals. That hasn’t always been the case. GB&I by contrast have several players who have no ambitions of turning professional, and indeed, have full time jobs. All in all I think that GB&I did brilliantly to achieve such a close result. Their should be no recriminations from Ada O’Sullivan and her team. No stone was left unturned in their efforts to win back the Curtis Cup.

That will happen when we have a nucleus of British players who are attending US Colleges, and are intent on becoming professionals. We should applaud the best women amateur golfers of GB&I for coming so close to winning the Cup back, rather than indulge in the usual British trait of putting them down!