Amateur Hour – Curtis Cup 2026 – Cookie Jar Golf

AMATEUR HOUR

Following on from Nelly Korda’s now iconic lip-in at Riviera CC last weekend during the U.S Open, all eyes remained fixed on the West Coast for another storied, albeit different event. The U.S.G.A are decamping themselves to the iconic Bel Air Country Club for the 44th playing of the Curtis Cup. Great Britain and Ireland take on the United States of America in three days of high intensity matches. It is contested over two foursomes and fourball sessions and a final day of singles matches.

The United States team has an overall record of 31 wins, 9 losses and 3 draws in the event to date… so you could say they’ve been a touch dominant during the event’s history thus far. Though I have heard on the fans’ side of things the overall record on ‘logo bingo’ at the event has seen ground thoroughly made up thanks to the R&A and members of the British golfing elite, (sadly it is just not a stat I can locate).

The Curtis Cup

For Captain Matthews and her team, a truly mammoth task awaits. Even though GB & I are defending champions after winning so dramatically at Sunningdale in 2024, 10 ½ – 9 ½, they come in as heavy underdogs. They have only two returning players with Curtis Cup experience, being Patience Rhodes and Beth Coulter who played together at Arizona State. They face an American side littered with players in the top 25 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings. This won’t deter them though, Catrina Matthews instils belief, positivity and calm amongst her troops. Lottie Woad voluntarily returned for two days, in a great display of culture, to spend time with the team and pass on tips for the course and how to play from the ever so charming kikuyu grass. Davina Xanh from Burnham and Berrow Golf Club is an exciting debutant, finishing runner-up at the 2026 Big Western Conference Championship and winning the 2025 St. Rule Trophy up in St Andrews. She possesses a tremendous iron game and a putter that once it finds the bottom of the cup once, just doesn’t stop.

Team USA

The American Captain Meghan Stasi has a truly stacked squad once again. Familiar household names and returning players Asterisk Talley, Jasimine Koo, Kiara Romero (fresh off Low-Am at the U.S Open) and Anna Davis, spearhead her attack. Debutant Kelly Xu is definitely one to watch. She boasts an impressive nine wins in NCAA Championship matchplay, the most in history and has been on two winning teams with the Stanford Cardinals (2024 and 2026). World number 3 Farah O’Keefe also makes her Curtis Cup debut this year alongside the highest ranked American player in the squad; Avery Reed who sits at 30 in the W.A.G.R rankings.

Team GB & I

Great Britain and Ireland haven’t retained the Curtis Cup on American soil since their 9-9 half at The Honors Course in 1994 and are yet to win the event outright in America since 1986 at Prairie Dunes Country Club. Their last visit in 2022 at Merion resulted in them winning only 4 ½ points and the previous visit to that at Quaker Ridge in 2018 saw them register only 3 points …it has been awfully tough reading of late. It feels different this time, with so many girls from the GB&I squad now in the U.S Collegiate system. They’re facing their American opposition more often at NCAA Div 1 events and earlier in the year. In decades past it was rare to have more than a couple girls playing frequently in America and with the Curtis Cup traditionally played so early in the calendar, the competitive reps the GB&I side had would be so much lower than the Americans. This is also testament to the strength of the Women’s game across GB&I.

Bel Air Country Club presents a fascinating test of golf, full of half-par holes, undulations and wickedly fast sloped greens. It makes up one third of George C. Thomas’ ‘Holy Trinity’ of iconic golden-age Los Angeles located golf courses, with the other two being Riviera CC and Los Angeles CC. It was most recently faithfully restored to Thomas’ original design and intent by Tom Doak in 2018, who followed two Fazio’s, Nicklaus and Trent Jones Sr. in taking machinery to the course.

The course will be played around 6,284 yards. Lots of the participants in both teams played Bel Air during the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Upon their return visits they have preached that it is not so much off the tee that you make hay at Bel Air, but from 120-130 yards, with fairways gathering opponents will often find themselves squaring off at this range. That is where they will be separating themselves and driving the results of their matches.

Bel Air

Bel Air itself simply as a club and not a course has a glittered and storied past, naturally so, being baked into the melting pot of the more glamorous part of Los Angeles. Hollywood stars of yesteryear such as Dean Martin, Jimmy Stewart and Fred Astaire used to make up part of their glitzy membership. Humphrey Bogart would be seen pounding the fairways smoking away and hitting variably flighted iron shots into the raised and shelved greens. One of the most famous stories is of the great eccentric Howard Hughes landing his plane on the golf course in an effort to pick up Katheirne Hepburn while running late. Current living members include Kelsey Grammar, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Al Michaels. I’m sure if he asked, Cookie Jar Chairman Emeritus Sam Williams would be ushered in to join them and no doubt be right at home in the locker room ‘schwestival’, he would probably tell Tom Cruise to stand a little taller at address.

It promises to be another thrilling few days in the storied history of the Curtis Cup. When the event was last played at Sunningdale it quickly became a Jar all-time favourite, the lack of ropes, the ability to get so close to players and their shots… arguably yes, the culture of ‘walking forwards’ during foursomes wasn’t exactly on display during the first two days, but it is still the ultimate golfing format to observe. Good luck to both teams over the next three days!

P.S…If you do know anyone who has somehow managed to get a ticket for this and flown out, think back to if they’ve ever been cheap getting a round of drinks in or with birthday presents… and never let them off the hook again, they’re living a good life.