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The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland". The same two teams originally contested the Ryder Cup, but unlike that competition, the Curtis Cup has not widened the Great Britain and Ireland team to include all Europeans (nor has the analogous event for amateur men, the Walker Cup). Many women who have gone on to become stars of women's professional golf have played in the Curtis Cup.
In 1905 an informal match had been played at Royal Cromer Golf Club between teams of American and British golfers, before the British Ladies Amateur Championship. The Amateur Championship started on Tuesday 30 May and it was originally planned to play the match on Monday 29 May, with a triangular competition between England, Scotland and Ireland being held from 25 to 27 May. Eventually the Britain/America match was played on 25 May with the triangular matches played on 26 and 27 May. The Britain/America match followed the same format as the triangular matches and involved seven 18-hole singles matches with extra holes played if necessary. The match resulted in a 6–1 win for the British team. Georgianna Bishop was the only American winner, beating Lottie Dod in the first match at the 20th hole. Margaret Curtis lost to May Hezlet while Harriot Curtis lost to Elinor Nevile.
Harriot and Margaret Curtis later donated a trophy for an regular series of matches between teams from America and Britain, wanting to promote the international friendships in the world of women's golf. The cup was inscribed, "To stimulate friendly rivalry among the women golfers of many lands." Discussions between various golf associations had been underway since 1924—the Curtis sisters had originally donated the trophy in 1927 to help these discussions along—but it was not until 1931 that the USGA and LGU agreed to co-sponsor the event. It was hoped that the French Golf Union would participate, but that never happened, the French and British teams playing each other in a separate match, first played in 1931.
An unofficial match between America and Britain was played at Sunningdale Golf Club on 1 May 1930 but was not organised by the USGA and LGU. There were five foursomes matches followed by ten singles matches in the afternoon. The match was level after the foursomes, with each team winning two matches and one match halved. Britain won six of the ten singles matches to win the contest.
The first match organised by the USGA and LGU was played in May 1932 at the Wentworth Club in England, and was won by the American team. This first match was not actually played for the Curtis Cup, since the LGU initially declined to accept the cup for the contest. André Vagliano, a French golfer and official, had offered the LGU a trophy for the match between France and Britain. The LGU had declined that offer and thus felt unable to accept the offer of the Curtis Cup. It was not until November 1932 that the LGU changed their minds and accepted both trophies. Even though the Curtis Cup was not actually played for in 1932, this match is accepted as the first match in the series.
In 2004, then fourteen-year-old Michelle Wie played for the U.S. becoming the youngest player in Curtis Cup history. She won both of her singles matches. In 2010 Leona Maguire became the youngest player to represent Great Britain & Ireland when she played at the age of 15. In 2008 Stacy Lewis won all her five matches, a feat equalled by Bronte Law in 2016 and Kristen Gillman in 2018. The scheduled 2020 event was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.