The 2022 Curtis Cup format has been announced for the 42nd edition of the event, which is the USGA co-presented biennial event pitting eight-woman teams against each other, to be played at Merion Golf Club outside of Philadelphia, Pa.
The Curtis Cup field consists of two eight-person teams. The American team is captained by Sarah LeBrun Ingram, with the team of Great Britain and Ireland players led by Elaine Ratcliffe.
For the American team, the players are selected based on several criteria. The US Women's Amateur champion and the McCormack Medal recipient from the prior year qualify automatically. The top three Americans in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of the cutoff date also qualify. There are three other picks.
For the Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) team, the top two players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking qualified automatically, along with the six picks.
The Curtis Cup format is a three-day event with 20 total matches that start on Friday.
On Friday and Saturday, there are two three-match session each day.
On both days, one session of three matches is played as fourball, also known as best ball. The other session of matches is played as foursomes, also known as alternate shot.
Foursomes is also called alternate shot. On each hole, one player (Player A) from each team hits their team's respective tee shots. Then the other player (Player B) from each team hits the second shot. Then the third shot is hit by Player A, and so on, until the ball is holed. The teams compare scores, and the team with the lower score wins the hole. Whichever team wins the most holes wins the match.
Fourball is also called best ball. On each hole, all four players play out the hole using their own ball, just like they were playing individually. At the end of each hole, each team uses the better score of the two partners and compares it to the other team. The team with the better score wins the hole. Whichever team wins the most holes wins the match.
On Sunday, there will be eight singles matches. Players compete against each other one-on-one, and the player to win the most holes wins the match.
Each match is worth 1 point toward the total. If a match is tied after 18 holes, the match is halved, and both teams earn 0.5 points toward their tally. The first team to earn 10.5 points will win the Curtis Cup. In the event of a tie after 20 matches, the match ends in a tie and the Americans retain the cup.
The players on the winning and losing teams do not earn money.
