“I think I’ll start to cry a little bit later,” said Sara Byrne having signed off on her final amateur round with a 3&2 victory over Catherine Park, getting an early point on the board that would prove crucial down the stretch as Great Britain and Ireland would seal a 10-5-9.5 victory over the United States.
Needing three-and-a-half points to get the win, GB&I team captain Catriona Matthew sent out the big guns early with world amateur number one Lottie Woad in the lead-out match with Byrne closely following in match number two.
The strategy was in danger of backfiring as Woad fell 3&2 to Asterisk Talley, but Byrne remained undefeated and got GB&I’s first point on the board.
“Yeah, absolutely,” a beaming Byrne said when she was asked if she was pleased with herself. “I played out of my skin today, exactly how I wanted to do, kind of get the foot down kind of early and just keep it down. I played really really well the last couple holes and got it done.”
Twice Byrne fell behind and twice she pegged Park back before finally getting her nose in front on the 10th. The lead didn’t last long, but she hit the front again on 12 and doubled the advantage on 14 with an incredible eagle that was set up by a laser-like fairway wood that almost went in for an albatross.
A par on 15 was enough for a 3UP lead and she closed out the match on 16, and with it, a glittering amateur career.
“Oh, my God, it’s insane,” she said. “This is a week of dreams. This is why we practice and why we want to play golf. Nine-year-old me wouldn’t be able to believe this moment, that’s for sure.”
And though she felt certain that tears would be shed at some point as she closed a chapter in life, her focus was going to be on cheering on her teammates.
“I think I’ll start to cry a little bit later, but not as of right now. But no, what a way to go out. I couldn’t ask for a better way,” she added.
The two sides took two wins apiece from the opening four matches, and when Jasmine Koo took down Beth Coulter 4&3, it appeared as though the Aine Donegan versus Rachel Kuehn and Mimi Rhodes versus Melanie Green matches would be where the tie was decided.
Donegan had been down from the sixth hole and fell three behind on the 11th, but battled back to 1-DOWN after 13, and though she hit a delicious bunker shot to tap-in range for birdie, it was to no avail as Kuehn one-upped her with an eagle to take firm control again and then went 3-UP after Donegan missed the green on the long par-3 and found a horrific lie.
Up ahead, Rhodes took a 1-UP lead to 17 but pulled her tee shot into the trees and was forced to chip out sideways, but an incredible up-and-down from 160 yards guaranteed the half-point needed, just as Lorna McClymont got the final full blue point on the board with a 3&2 victory just behind.
“This is just as special as any of the others,” said Matthew in the post-Cup press conference. “Anytime you captain a team when you’re representing your country, there is no bigger honour. I had a fantastic team, the eight of them. They all played well. They all contributed.
“We had a great week all week. We were kind of relaxed. We enjoyed it. But they went out and played some amazing golf.
“My hat’s off to the Americans, as well. They gave us a battle. We knew they were going to come out strong today, and they did. But this team, they dug in deep as they have in every session, and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
While it is always a team effort, by being the only GB&I player to go undefeated, Byrne’s contribution was a significant one.
“Honestly, I don’t think that has settled in yet,” she said. “It kind of hit me on 15 when I went 3-up. I kind of had in my head for a split second, I was like, oh, I think I’ve just gone undefeated here no matter what. I knew I needed that crucial point, not half point, so I was really able to lock back in and make a stress-free par on 16, which was really, really nice.
“But honestly, coming into this week, if I was told I was going to go undefeated, I probably wouldn’t have believed you, to be honest. It’s a really special feeling to end my amateur career just like that. So yeah, it was pretty special.”
It was just the ninth GB&I success in 43 contests and a first win since Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey were part of the winning team in Dun Laoghaire in 2016.
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