The Curtis Cup is at Bel-Air Country Club in California this week, and the old course in the Santa Monica Mountains is set to demand more patience than power from the best amateurs from the USA and GB&I. The Americans are back to try to win back the trophy after GB&I’s victory at Sunningdale in 2024.

That is why Catriona Matthew took the team over to Los Angeles early. Bel-Air stretches to 6,284 yards, but the number only tells part of the story. The course is an historic layout carved out of the canyons, and it is being treated as a test of course management rather than a place where sheer length will win the day. Matthew said the real challenge will be the greens and distance control, along with being on the right side of the fairways to attack the pins.

The opening hole makes the point quickly. It is a par-5 that plays 495 yards from the Gold/Back tees, 460 from the White tees and 435 from the Red tees, sweeping down from an elevated tee box with views of the Los Angeles skyline. Longer hitters may look at that and see a chance to go for the green in two. But Bel-Air can punish greed, and the players who try to force it are more likely to be exposed by lightning-fast greens, where Matthew said keeping the ball below the hole will matter as much as anything.

That leaves the Curtis Cup set up as a match of restraint against temptation. Bel-Air invites bold shots, yet the demands of wedge play from 120 to 130 yards out and the need to manage angles around the fairways should make the event a premium on discipline. The teams are already on site, and once play begins this week the first questions will be whether the Americans can reclaim the trophy and which side adapts faster to a course that looks generous but rewards only the golfers who plan every shot.