Charley Hull’s Great Britain & Ireland side staged a stunning final day comeback to win the Curtis Cup for the first time since she was born in 1996, beating the United States 10.59.5.
The Woburn Golf Club teenager and world number five was forced to sit out two of the first four sessions and twice partnered Scotland’s Pamela Prestwell only to lose in foursome and fourball outings.
GB&I trailed going into the final day’s singles, facing the statistic that no American team had ever lost in the previous 36 Curtis Cups having taken a clean sweep of the first event, which they did 3-0.
But needing to claim a 5-3 victory on day three to wrest the title from the Americans’ grasp, GB&I fought back with the 16-year-old adding her first point with the best score of the final day, beating Lindy Duncan 5&3, before Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow secured the winning point, beating Amy Anderson 4&3.
Hull was two under par after four holes. The long second was halved in birdies before she birdied the third to edge ahead.
Duncan conceded the short fourth, where she hooked her tee shot on to the beach, to fall two behind.
Hull won the short sixth with a par and birdied the long seventh to go three up and the seventh and eighth holes were halved in pars, leaving Hull three up on the 10th tee.
The English woman stepped up a gear to win the 11th with a birdie two and the 12th and 13th with pars to go a commanding five holes up.
Duncan won back the 14th but she was only delaying the inevitable. Hull won the 15th and the match on a concession.
