3 Things to Know: 44th Curtis Cup Match

The World Cup isn’t the only big international competition kicking off this week. While the Americans get set to take on Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, in Los Angeles, in the first of three Group State matches, another group wearing the red, white and blue will be teeing off just up the 405 Freeway at Bel-Air Country Club.

The 44th Curtis Cup Match commences on Friday between eight top female amateurs from the USA and another eight from Great Britain & Ireland. Three four-ball matches will kick things off followed by the afternoon foursomes session. Saturday will feature the same scenario, and all eight players will compete in Sunday singles. GB&I holds the Cup and needs just 10 points to retain it, while the Americans will need 10.5 points to reclaim it.

For the second consecutive week, legendary architect George C. Thomas Jr. takes center stage. The Riviera Country Club hosted the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally and now his work at Bel-Air will be featured. He also did nearby Los Angeles Country Club, site of the 2023 U.S. Open and 2017 Walker Cup.

Like Riviera, Bel-Air has some unique features such as an elevator taking players from the ninth green to the 10th tee, a swinging bridge connecting the 10th tee and 10th green and four tunnels that get players to various holes throughout the property.

The course, which hosted the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur and previously hosted the 1976 U.S. Amateur, will be the shining star of this biennial competition. Expect to see a few celebrity members taking in the action as well.

Here are 3 things to know on the eve of the Match:

Numbers Game

When it comes to rankings, this is David vs. Goliath. The average Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking ®/WAGR® of the eight USA competitors: 13,6. For GB&I, the average ranking is 117.

The USA boasts the No. 1 (Kiara Romero), No. 3 (Farah O’Keefe) and No. 8 (Asterisk Talley) players in the world. All three just made the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open, with Romero earning low-amateur honors by tying for sixth.

Avery Weed (No. 30) is the lowest-ranked American. Kary Hollenbaugh checks in at No. 23, while Kelly Xu (No. 14), Anna Davis (No. 12) and Jasmine Koo (No. 12) are each inside the top 20.

Xu and Davis lost to eventual champion Megan Schofill in the Round of 32 and quarterfinals, respectively, in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air. Romero lost in the opening round.

“We can't underestimate them,” O’Keefe said in the lead up to the competition. “Let’s just play the way that we play and play our guts out.”

The highest-ranked GB&I player is Patience Rhodes, one of the team’s two returners from the victorious 2024 team that won at Sunningdale. Beth Coulter, the other 2024 competitor, checks in at 106. The only other GB&I player in the top 50 is Sophia Fullbrook (No. 38).

Of course, matches aren’t played on a computer terminal. Nobody wins matches based on reputation or ranking.

“I think just being back on home soil kind of gives us that little extra edge, especially because [GB&I] hasn't won on American soil in 40 years,” said Talley. We don't want it to be the first time that they do that. It's going to give us that little extra motivation to be playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

Sunday’s Best

Speaking of statistical edges, the USA has dominated the Sunday singles session, especially since the Match went to a three-day format in 2008.

Since the 2008 victory on the Old Course at St. Andrews, in Scotland, the Americans own a 46.5-23.5 margin in singles. That includes going a perfect 8-0 at Quaker Ridge Golf Club, in Scarsdale, N.Y., in the 17-3 rout in 2018. Four years later at Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, Pa., the American went 7-1, the only loss coming from Amari Avery, who was playing in the last match and had already amassed a 4-0 record to that point. The USA rolled to a 15.5-4.5 victory.

Even two years ago at Sunningdale, the visitors nearly rallied on Sunday, taking 4.5 of the available 8 points in a 10.5-9.5 defeat. That also occurred in 2016 at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club, in Ireland, with the Americans winning the singles session but losing the Match (11.5-8.5).

Only twice since 2008 has GB&I enjoyed an edge on Sunday, winning 4.5 points each in 2012 (1-point win at Nairn) and 2014 (6-point loss at St. Louis C.C.). The teams both won 4 points in 2010 at Essex Country Club, in Massachusetts, but the USA rolled to a 5-point win.

Old College Try

For the first time in Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup history, all eight players will have either attended or are set to enroll in college in the United States.

Charlotte Naughton, 18, of England, has signed to play at the University of Alabama. Two others, Beth Coulter and Patience Rhodes, play for Arizona State, while Isla McDonald-O’Brien is in the midst of transferring to the University of Texas from ASU. Sophia Fullbrook won this year’s NCAA Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional for Florida State, where she teamed with former world No. 1 amateur and 2024 Curtis Cupper Lottie Woad. Lily Hirst played two seasons at Incarnate Word in Texas before transferring to Kansas, where she completed her eligibility.

Nellie Ong teamed the last two seasons with the USA’s Kary Hollenbaugh at Ohio State and just competed in the U.S. Women’s Open. Finally, Davina Xanh should be quite at home in Southern California, as the 22-year-old just finished her college career at Cal State Fullerton, where she was the 2026 Big West Conference runner-up.

“In college golf, we're often exposed to media, Golf Channel, that can prepare us for events like this where we know it's going to be broadcasted,” said Ong, who competed in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. “We've had a few events where we can be prepared for it, and we're in a good space mentally, and it's not a sudden shock.”

Even prior to 2026, GB&I Curtis Cup Teams featured a bevy of U.S. collegians. The 2022 and 2024 sides each had seven; Lottie Woad (Florida State), Mimi Rhodes (Wake Forest), Hannah Darling (South Carolina), Patience Rhodes (Arizona State) and Aine Dongegan (LSU) paced the victorious ’24 team.

The victorious 2016 side had Bronte Law (UCLA), Leona Maguire (Duke), Alice Hewson (Clemson), Olivia Mehaffey (Arizona State) and Charlotte Thomas (Washington).

That kind of familiarity should play a role for GB&I.

“At home you've got links golf, which is completely different,” said Patience Rhodes. “Having the grain as well, you kind of get used to it being in America. College in America is great and it prepares you for pro golf. I think playing golf courses around here near L.A., I'm in Arizona, it's all really similar, like the high shots that land soft. So, I think it's really important.”

The USA Team features seven collegians, with the lone exception being 17-year-old high school rising senior Asterisk Talley, who has committed to attend Stanford in 2027. Talley beat world No. 1 Woad in the Sunday singles portion of the 2024 Curtis Cup.

So, there should be plenty of familiarity amongst the combatants.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.