United States thrashed Great Britain and Ireland by a record 17-3 scoreline to reclaim the Curtis Cup in New York.
The US entered the final day of the singles matches at Quaker Ridge with a 9-3 lead, and soon sealed a 29th win in the 39th edition of the women’s amateur event when winning all eight singles matches. The previous largest margin of victory was in 1982, when the US won by 14½-3½.
America’s Kristen Gillman became only the third player to finish with a maximum five points, following Bronte Law (2016) and Stacy Lewis (2008).
Gillman’s 5&4 win over Surrey’s Annabell Fuller and Lucy Li’s victory over Yorkshire’s India Clyburn, by the same margin, were the standout performances by the strong US team on the final day.
The United States were clear favourites, with all eight players ranked inside the world’s top 25, including number one Lilia Vu. The 20-year-old recorded a 2up win over Lancashire’s Sophie Lamb in the singles.
Lamb teamed up with Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey to win both their foursomes matches and halve their fourball match, while GB&I’s other half-point came from Paula Grant and Shannon McWillliam in the opening morning’s four ball matches.
GB&I captain Elaine Farquharson-Black said: “We’re obviously very disappointed with the score, and all you can do is congratulate the United States on its win and the very high standard of golf they have played. We played well in spells, particularly on the first day, but at this level you have to have more consistency, and at times we’ve just not performed as well as we would have liked.”