All three Irish representatives were in action on day one of the Curtis Cup at Sunningdale, and all three ended the day undefeated as a Great Britain and Ireland afternoon fightback sees the tie all-square at 3-3.
Longtime friends Beth Coutler and Aine Donegan were paired together in the morning foursomes and came from 1-DOWN with one to play to grind out a half against Jasmine Koo and Zoe Campos.
The lead was swapped to-and-fro liberally, but when the United States pairing hit the front after the 16th, salvaging a half-point was a huge feather in the caps for Catriona Matthew’s side.
Sara Byrne played alongside Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion and recent low-amateur winner at the AIG Women’s Open, Lottie Woad. They looked poised to get the side’s first full point on board when they took a 2-UP lead to the 17th tee, but a great response saw Catherine Park and Asterisk Talley reel them back in and the United States took a 2-1 lead to the afternoon session where fourball was the format.
This time, Donegan was paired with Scot Hannah Darling, and they faced 2023 ANWA winner Anna Davis and Megan Schofill.
Twice the Americans hit the front and twice they were pegged back before Donegan and Darling got their noses in front for the first time on the 12th. From there, the two sides matched each other blow for blow, and after the United States pair made birdie on the last, it was down to Donegan to match them and she made no mistake from 15 feet.
“Yeah, it was pretty intense. Meg made that out of nowhere really. It was probably 25 feet, big left-right slider and she just hit the absolute perfect putt. I suppose fair play to them. They were kind of down for the last couple of — probably a lot of the back nine, and they kept fighting and they stuck with it.
“Yeah, that was nice on 18. That was a very nice feeling, and I’m just really happy to put a point on the board for us.”
Drama on the 18th 👀
Aine Donegan holes this putt to win the match for Great Britain and Ireland 🇬🇧🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/wiKYrxmAJf
— Curtis Cup (@CurtisCup) August 30, 2024
For the second session in a row, Woad and Byrne paired up and again found Catherine Park in opposition, this time with Zoe Campos for company.
Having surrendered that lead in the morning session, they again built a strong advantage as they pushed three ahead at the turn. But walking off the 13th, the match was all-square. That’s the way it would remain until 16, where Byrne had a lengthy putt to win the hole and rolled it dead-centre.
With her putter red-hot, she instead opted to chip from just off the green on 17, but the result was a carbon-copy and down it went to seal a 2&1 victory that ensured the sides were deadlocked after the first of three day’s play.
“I think honestly it’s a dream finish that anyone could ask for. But I’ve been waiting for something to drop, and it finally did at the right time, thankfully,” said Byrne.
“I kind of went a bit crazy there, and it was so nice having the whole team right behind us there, cheering us all on. I think we had everyone; we had all my friends, all my family. I think every spectator was there with our whole team, which was really, really special. A memory I’ll never forget.”
When you realise the ball is heading for the hole 🙋♀️
Sara Byrne sinks a 35ft putt to win the hole for Great Britain and Ireland 🇬🇧🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/jALqfMuKgi
— Curtis Cup (@CurtisCup) August 30, 2024
She’s done it again!
Sara Byrne produces ANOTHER incredible shot to win the match for Great Britain and Ireland 🇬🇧🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/TJAJGodvoB
— Curtis Cup (@CurtisCup) August 30, 2024
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