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The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers and is contested between GB&I and the USA on a biennial basis.
This ladies golf event is co-organised by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Ladies Golf Union(LGU).
The same two teams originally contested the Ryder Cup, but unlike that competition, the Curtis Cup has not widened the Great Britain and Ireland team to include all Europeans (and neither has the analogous event for amateur men, the Walker Cup).
Many of the lady golfers have gone on to become stars of women's professional golf and have played in the Solheim Cup, which is contested between lady professionals of Europe and USA.
The first Curtis Cup Match was played in 1932 at the Wentworth Club in England, and was won by the USA team. This year's event is scheduled to be playedEssex Country Club, Manchester, Massachusetts. The GB&I team shall be captained by Mary McKenna of Ireland, with the USA team being skippered by Noreen Mohler.
The competition involves various match play matches on a singles, foursomes and four-ball basis. The winner of each match scores a point for their team, with ½ a point each for any match that is tied after 18 holes. If the entire Match is tied, the previously winning team retains the Cup.
Format
In 2008, the format changed to a three-day competition, with three foursomes and three four-ball matches on each of the first two days, and eight singles matches on the final day.
Schedule of Events (format subject to change):
Venue:
Essex County Club, located in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., opened in 1893 and was the first nine-hole golf course in New England. Essex was admitted as the sixth member of the United States Golf Association, which now numbers more than 5,000 clubs. Donald Ross, the world-famous architect, became the club professional in 1910. During the years Ross was at Essex, 1910 to 1913, and thereafter until 1917, he redesigned almost all the holes, constructing or reconstructing several holes a year. The current third green, which was part of the original nine holes, became part of the new 18, and this green is considered to be the oldest in the country. Skip Wogan came to Essex in 1910 with Donald Ross and served the Club faithfully as both professional and greenkeeper until his death in 1957. Skip's son, Philip, a course architect, maintained the course from 1957 until his retirement in 1986.
