Curtis Cup

Family ties inspire Curtis Cup success

The R&A

29 Aug 24

3 mins

Rachel Kuehn will embrace the “friendly rivalry” of the Curtis Cup as she makes her third successive appearance in the match this week.

Kuehn and her mother, Brenda Corrie-Kuehn, have each enjoyed the thrill of securing the match-clinching point for the United States in previous stagings of the biennial contest against Great Britain & Ireland. When the Curtis sisters, Margaret and Harriot, initially offered to donate a cup for matches between GB&I and the USA more than a century ago, they did so to “stimulate friendly rivalry among the women golfers of many lands”. Those words are inscribed on the trophy the two teams will compete for at Sunningdale and were referred to by Kuehn as she spoke to the media in the USA’s team press conference on Thursday.

Friendly rivalry

“I think all but one (of the GB&I team) play collegiate golf in the United States, so we've seen each other. We're all friends,” said Kuehn. “I go back to the quotes on the Curtis Cup, the whole friendly rivalry idea. I think that's very much true. We're all friendly with them. We get along with them great. “I do think that it's nice to get familiar with their golf games ahead of time. We've been playing with them for two, three, four, five years, so it should be a really great week.” Although Kuehn is the only member of the US team to have previously featured in the Curtis Cup, she and team-mate Megan Schofill were keen to highlight the readiness of their entire eight-player line-up.

Talented US team

“I definitely think we will go to her (Kuehn) with any questions,” said Schofill, the 2023 US Women’s Amateur Champion. “Someone that's played in three, it's amazing, and it shows you how much skill and talent she has. “But I think all of us are really experienced. We've played a lot of match play, most of the girls, and I think we just know what it takes.” “I just want to build off that,” added Kuehn. “Our whole team is incredibly talented, and they don't need any advice, they don't need any guidance. They're incredible players in their own right. I'm just here to believe in them and to cheer them on.” The American players are generally higher-ranked than their British and Irish counterparts, but the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Lottie Woad, does not expect it to be a factor this week. “I definitely think the rankings aren't going to really matter,” said Woad, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner who won the Smyth Salver for low amateur with a 10^th-placed finish at last week’s AIG Women’s Open. “I feel like most Solheim Cups we're usually ranked behind the Americans, and the last results have obviously gone to Europe. “We’re just going to try and use that, and we know with it being fourball, foursomes, you're not playing on your own, and I feel like we're a lot more used to playing in that format, as well, with all the team golf we play over here.”

Inspires by 2016 win

Ireland’s Sara Byrne is one of three members of the home team, along with Aine Donegan and Beth Coulter, who attended as a fan when Great Britain & Ireland last won the Curtis Cup at Dun Laoghaire eight years ago. “Having that experience in 2016 and seeing (fellow Irish players) Leona (Maguire), Olivia (Mehaffey) and Maria (Dunne) bring home that trophy, we were so young … being like, wow, this is the coolest thing ever,” said Byrne. “The fact the three of us are doing it together now, it’s really, really special. “I think I played with Beth my first time when she was 11 or something. I was like 13, 14. We’ve literally grown up from the very bottom to reach this moment. “Not even just the three of us, it runs through all eight (in the Great Britain & Ireland team). We’ve all known each other for a very, very long time and I think it’s kind of showing this week. “We’re all really close and just the vibes and the aura around us, it's really good, and I think it's going to make for a great week.”

Veteran Captain

Great Britain & Ireland captain Catriona Matthew, a veteran of three Curtis Cup appearances as a player who also skippered Europe’s Solheim Cup team to back-to-back victories in 2019 and 2021, added: “As Sara was saying, we've got a great team atmosphere, which I think is crucial. “We want to try and be as relaxed off the course because we all know there's going to be the pressure and tension once you're on the course, so to try and keep the players relaxed off the course and having some fun just is really crucial. “I think I've learned over the years, just playing in team situations, that that's what you need. “They're all desperate to go out there and play and be under that pressure wanting to win their point, so when you're off the course you've really got to try and relax.”

All News