We look ahead to the clash between the best of American and British/Irish amateur ladies golfers.
We look ahead to the clash between the best of American and British/Irish amateur ladies golfers
It's time to reclaim the Curtis Cup.
That's the rallying call for the amateur ladies of Great Britain and Ireland this week who have the chance to complete a Grand Slam for golf teams from this side of the Atlantic.
The omens are good: the weather forecast isn't great - but then it wasn't when Europe won the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor two years ago (a victory witnessed in person by many of this week's home team).
The location is familiar - it's just a few miles north of Royal Aberdeen GC where GB&I won the Walker Cup last year.
And inspiration comes, too, from the stunning victory by the European ladies in the Solheim Cup in September.
There was controversy in the run-up to the event (thanks to a bizarre selection process that ruled out Charley Hull, then did a u-turn, whilst British Amateur champion Lauren Taylor's fitness was guessed at weeks in advance) but all that is done and dusted.
The teams are now set and GB&I have never been more prepared ahead of the match. It's time for eight girls to have the week of their golfing lives so far.
Here's our guide to the 2012 Curtis Cup:
History
It doesn't look good for the home side. The Americans have won 27 Curtis Cup matches to GB&I's six and in recent years it gets worse - the Americans have won the last seven. If we're looking for more good omens, however, what about this? The last time GB&I won the Curtis Cup both Karen Stupples and Cristie Kerr completed and the match was held in Ireland. And last September? Both those players competed in the Solheim Cup. In Ireland. And Europe won. It's tenuous, but what the hell.
Format
It is similar to the Ryder and Solheim Cups but with smaller teams. On Friday and Saturday there are three morning foursomes and three afternoon fourballs. The match concludes on Sunday with eight singles.
Strategy
GB&I captain Tegwen Matthews knows what she wants from her team: "This is not strokeplay where you can start slowly and pick up your momentum later on, even the next day. This is matchplay. A completely different mindset is required. A quick start is essential."
The course
Nairn GC in north Scotland is a piece of linksland that has been touched by greatness - golfing greatness at least. The layout has been refined by architectural masters like Archie Simpson, Old Tom Morris, James Braid and Ben Sayers. Gorse bushes and heather line many of the fairways, the beach is sometimes in play and the wind always is. Some greens are raised, other in hollows. It's a great test and will be visually spectacular. It also hosted the 1999 Walker Cup when GB&I (including Luke Donald, Paul Casey and Simon Dyson) defeated the visitors 15-9.
The weather
It's a bit of an old chestnut - does filthy links weather suit GB&I? When the Walker Cup was played at Royal Aberdeen GC last year it seemed so. But countless Open Championships and Ricoh Women's British Opens have witnessed predictions of American collapses in dire weather and more often than not it just doesn't happen. What is true is that plenty of the home team grew up on links golf so they will have more experience of the conditions.
Team GB&I
There were sighs of relief when sanity was restored and the top-ranked performer (the world number five) Charley Hull was selected. The 15-year-old has proved her outrageous ability this year by making the cut at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (not many European professionals achieve that on their first visit to an American major) and finishing fifth in the LET's Turkish Open.
The rest of the team is made up of Pamela Pretswell (a winner on the LET's second tier circuit a few weeks ago at a blustery event in Sweden), Kelly Tidy (recent winner of the English Amateur in poor conditions at Royal Birkdale), Amy Boulden (who was fourth after round one of the LET's 2010 Wales Championship of Europe in appalling wind), Curtis Cup veterans Holly Clyburn and Leona Maguire, Stephanie Meadow (who has been starring for the University of Alabama in the US) and rookie Bronte Law.
Team USA
It is always worth watching the American team closely because there are future stars in the making on show. Two members of the 2010 American team, Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, have already claimed wins on the professional circuit, joining fellow Curtis Cup graduates - Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie - at the top of the game. The player to watch this year is Lindy Duncan, who made the cut in the 2011 US Women's Open and is ranked eight in the world. The only player returning from the 2010 match is the highly rated Tiffany Lua. Other to look out for are college star Austin Ernst and, for no other reason than her wonderful name, Brooke Pancake.
Prediction?
It will be tough for Team GB&I. History tells us as much and the American amateur set-up is incredibly tough to beat. Why should this year be different? Well, the feeling that this is a strong GB&I squad is not based on false hope and it has a potential star to rally around in Hull. It is also a happy, well-prepared and motivated team. The bookies don't agree. In fact Skybet make the Europeans 5/2 outsiders. But that's the same price the Europeans were to win the Solheim Cup last year and we all know what happened then ...
