GB and I Captain Tegwen Matthews was hoping her players would make a fast start, i.e. win early holes on the opening morning foursomes, but, in fact, it was the United States who made an impressive start in misty, windy but still dry conditions. They won all three ties with varying degrees of ease.
The American No 3 pairing of Lisa McCloskey and Lindy Duncan birdied the first three holes against the all-Ireland combine of Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow and were three up after six holes, extending that lead to six holes by the turn. It was a closer match after the turn with Maguire and Meadow cutting their deficit to four holes but McCloskey and Duncan finished the match with a par 3 at the 14th to be winners by 5 and 4 with level par figures, very good scoring in the conditions.
Amy Anderson and Tiffany Lua, playing No 2 for the Americans, birdied the first two holes against Holly Clyburn and Bronte Law and were three up after nine with roughly one-over-par figures. GB and I got it back to a two-hole deficit at the 13th but lost the 14th and then birdied the 15th to be two down with three to play. Halves at the 16th and 17th ended the match in favour of Anderson and Lua by 2 and 1 - with roughly four-over-par scoring. Austin Ernst and Brooke Pancake, the lead-off pair for the Curtis Cup holders, birdied two of the first four holes but Amy Boulden and Kelly Tidy mounted a stirring fightback to be two up at the turn. But they lost the 14th and 16th to be pulled back to all square with two to play.
Ernst and Lua led for the first time in the match with a par at the 17th and halved the last for a one-hole, come-from-behind victory with approximately four-over-par figures.
GB and I captain Tegwen Matthews "I'm afraid that wasn't quite the fast start we wanted. It's disappointing. There was some good golf played out there but the Americans were just that bit sharper than us on and around the greens. "That's something I'm going to talk to the girls about at lunchtime. We need to hole a few more putts and if we do that, there's no reason why we can't get back into the match. "There's still a long way to go."
FRIDAY FOURSOMES - MATCH ONE Austin
Ernst and Brooke Pancake (US) bt Amy Boulden and Kelly Tidy (GB and I) by one hole.
The GB and I pair drew first blood with a winning par at the first but the Americans squared with a birdie 4 at the long second. Ernst and Pancake bogeyed the third to fall one down again but then birdied the short fourth to get back on level terms. Boulden and Tidy countered with their first birdie, at the fifth, to regain a one-hole lead. The Americans conceded the eighth to two down and that was the position at the turn. The GB and I player covered the first nine holes in an approximate one-under 35 to their opponents' 37/38. The 10th was halved in bogey 6s and the 11th in pars, leaving Boulden and Tidy two up with seven to play. GB and I's lead dropped to one hole when they bogeyed the 14th but the 15th holed was halved. Ernst and Pancake squared the match with a par at the 16th and led for the first time with another par at the 17th. A half at the 18th was all the Americans needed for a one-hole win.
FRIDAY FOURSOMES - MATCH TWO
Amy Anderson and Tiffany Lua beat Holly Clyburn and Bronte Law by 2 and 1.
The Americans birdied the first two holes to jump into a two-hole lead before halving holes three and four. Clyburn and Law bogeyed the fifth to fall three down and were still three down at the turn with approximate figures of four-over 40 to their opponents' 37. The first three holes of the inward half were halved before Clyburn and Law won back a hole, the 13th, which Anderson and Lua bogeyed - US two up with five to play. Anderson and Lee won the short 14th with a par to go back to three up with four to play. A birdie by Law and Clyburn to win the 17th kept their hopes alive but they dcould only halve the 16th in bogeys ant the 17th in par for a 2 and 1 victory by the Americans.
FRIDAY FOURSOMES - MATCH THREE
Lisa McCloskey and Lindy Duncan beat Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow by 5 and 4. McCloskey and Duncan made a sensational start by birdieing the first three holes - Maguire asnd Meadow were able to halve the second - and the Americans went three up when GB and ran up a 6 at the fifth. McCloskey and Duncan notched their fourth birdie at the seventh to go four up and increased their advantage to five holes with a par at the eighth. Another part the ninth was good enough to put McCloskey and Duncan six up, having reached the turn in two-under 34 to their opponents' approximate five-over 41. Maguire and Meadow did not win a hole until the 11th which the Americans bogeyed but McCloskey and Duncan were still five up with seven to play. The Irish pair also won the 12th on a concession to improve their position to four down but McCloskey and Duncan finished the match with a par 3 at the short 14th for a 5 and 4 winning margin.
