A long time ago Repeat sistersJessica and Nelly, were the Curtis sisters, Harriot and Margaret. Between them, they caught four US Women’s Amateur titles. But their legacy in the game is most closely associated with the biennial competition that bears their name.
The Curtis Cup returns on Friday for its 44th edition, pitting the elite women’s amateurs from the United States against their counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland in three days of foursomes, fourball and singles matches. Although the Americans hold a slim 31-9-3 advantage in the two-year series, the visitors arrive as defending champions after their victory two years ago at Sunningdale.
Sunningdale is a convenient landmark. Over the decades, the Curtis Cup has traveled to many of the game’s most popular venues, and this year’s host is no exception. The team’s matches will be played at Bel-Air Country Club, the jewel of Los Angeles carved into the hills just a few miles away. Rivierasite of the US Women’s Open last week.
Like the Riviera, the Bel-Air was designed by George C. Thomas (with the help of Billy Bell). But she has a unique personality. Before Friday’s photos begin, here are 8 things you need to know about the course and the club.
One of the big three
“Triumvirate” is a fancy word for “prominent trio” and is used a lot in reference to the three most famous courses in LA: Riviera, Los Angeles Country Club and Bel-Air. The Thomas Triumvirate! He designed them all in the 1920s, and although Riviera and LACC rank higher Top 100 liststhe architect himself was most proud of Bel-Air, according to Thomas biographer Geoff Shackelford, in part because of the site’s challenges.
Bridges, tunnels. . . and an elevator
Where the Riviera stretches along an old riverbed and the LACC stretches across a wide, rolling expanse, the Bel-Air flows through four canyons whose gorges and washes made the route an enigma. The solution takes players on an unforgettable journey. Over 18 holes, players walk through four tunnels and ride an elevator from the 9th green to the clubhouse. From there, it’s a short walk to the 10th hole, a long par-3 that plays over a valley, its frontage connected to the green by a 350-foot suspension bridge.
Bel-Air Country Club Tunnels. The brilliance and courage of George Thomas in running a course that required three (and eventually four) tunnels, an elevator and a suspension bridge in 1926 is astounding. A bold and creative journey like any golden age design. pic.twitter.com/T9Vpj8QsEB
Billy Bell played a role in the design. But another Bell made the project happen. Alphonzo Bell (no relation to Billy) was an oil and real estate magnate who developed the land where the course now sits. although Bel Air is French for “beautiful air,” it’s also a spin on the last name Bell.
Suction and clutch
Like many famous Angelenos, Bel-Air has had a lot of work. Besides George Thomas and Billy Bell, at least seven architects have changed course to varying degrees, including Dick Wilson, whose 1962 renovation so upset Thomas’ daughter, a Bel-Air member, that she boycotted the club. Over the decades, other architects—George Fazio, Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus and Robert Trent Jones Jr., among them—also made changes. But the most recent overhaul was carried out by Tom Doak, whose 2018 restoration deleted artificial water hazards, reduced the total number of bunkers and reversed other changes made over the decades, all with the goal of reviving Thomas’ original design.
Comfortable on camera
Doak’s restoration was aided by abundant archival material, including photographs. One of those photos was an aerial view of a maintenance worker hand-watering the 9th green, taken nearly a century ago by the Goodyear Blimp. “It doesn’t get more LA than that,” says Eric Iverson, who was Doak’s main collaborator on the job.
The glittering crowd
It also doesn’t get much more LA than the Bel-Air membership. In Hollywood’s Golden Age, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Dean Martin and Humphrey Bogart all belonged, as did Jason BatemanChris O’Donnell, Luke Wilson and Dennis Quaid are up today. Actors and studio executives are numerous. Such athletes, including Marcus Allen, Wayne Gretzky and Jarrett Stoll. Then there’s Mae West, who wasn’t a member but still left her mark on Bel-Air. Two prominent fairway mounds on the par-4 12th have been named in honor of the lusty star.
Among the famous members of Bel-Air: Jason Bateman.
getty images
Holes worth knowing
Thomas believed in opening his courses with a friendly handshake, and Bel-Air’s 1—a par-5 table that plunges into the canyon—fits that mold. But, as he did at Riviera and LACC, he toughens things up with a blustery par-4 second that requires you to lift your drive over a fairway bunker. Nine shots through two holes is a good score. On the back nine, the 14th is a rare par-5 that worries even elite players, its tight tee shot followed by a complicated layup from the water and a green that runs away from the approach. The par-4 17th goes downhill to a fairway made elusive by the elevation change and then to a green with problems all around. It could be a penultimate penalty hole.
The country has history
If the Riviera is the perfect tournament course and the LACC the underrated cathedral, Bel-Air is the clubhouse with the best rumors. Howard Hughes once landed a plane on the property in a rush to pick up Katharine Hepburn. Members describe a genuine club culture – people who actually know each other and hang out with each other. Al Michaels, a member, isn’t known for calling golf – but hazing players from yards overlooking tees 1 and 10 is something of a club custom, and he’s happy to oblige.
;)
