U.S. dominates GB&I in singles, wins Curtis Cup in Wales

Twenty-three years after her mom, Brenda Corrie Kuehn, captured the winning point for Team USA in the Curtis Cup, Rachel Kuehn did the same on Saturday in Wales.

The younger Kuehn defeated Scotland’s Louise Duncan, 2 and 1, to give the U.S. the required points to win the cup over Great Britain and Ireland for the first time on foreign soil since 2008 in St. Andrews. The Americans ultimately won the 41st edition of the competition, 12 1/2 to 7 1/2, at Conwy Golf Club.

GB&I led the three-day event by three points after Day 1, but the U.S. turned the tables on Day 2 and evened the matches going into the eight singles. It was there that the U.S. dominated, winning six matches and 6 1/2 points.

GB&I won only one match outright as England’s Caley McGinty defeated Duke’s Gina Kim, 4 and 3. Scot Hannah Darling was 3 up with four to play on U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle, but Castle won Nos. 15, 16 and 18 to earn a halve.

Match scoring from the Curtis Cup

Along with Castle’s half-point, the U.S. got wins from Brooke Matthews, Rachel Heck and Allisen Corpuz to reach 9 1/2 points, with 10 needed to retain the cup (as defending champions) and 10 1/2 to win it outright.

Kuehn officially gave her side the victory, just like her mom did in 1998 at The Minikahda Club in Minnesota.

With the cup determine, Emilia Migliaccio and Rose Zhang finished up their matches, both victories for the U.S. to add to the overall margin of victory. Zhang, the world’s No. 1 amateur, went 4-0-1 this week.

Following a 17-3 win three years ago at Quaker Ridge in New York, the U.S. has now won two in a row in the biennial competition, which was postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It holds an overall record of 30-8-3.

The Curtis Cup will go back to its even-year rotation with Merion Golf Club (Pa.) hosting in 2022 and Sunningdale (England) playing host in 2024.