Four out of the eight players are from Scotland, with two of them — 16-year-old Sally Watson (Elie and Earlsferry) and 19-year-old Krystle Caithness (St Regulus, St Andrews) — coming from north east Fife.

Captain Mary McKenna reckons her young team are more than up for playing to the huge galleries expected around the Old Course when the biennial contest, between the top amateurs of the US and Great Britain & Ireland, comes to town.

It's a very young team. At 15, Perthshire's Carly Booth is the youngest ever player. However Mary reckons she's got some "old heads on young shoulders," in a very strong team.

"They are the top eight amateur players in Great Britain and Ireland and my job is to make them believe it. Ninety per cent of the support will be there for them," she told the Citizen on Monday following a successful practice weekend in St Andrews.

Exams prevented Cellardyke's Krystle and England's Jodi Ewart from joining the team, but coach Lawrence Farmer says he has no problems with any of the players, all of whom "well-deserve" their places.

"The team is looking really good. I am really proud of them. It's been a pleasure working with them this weekend, with Mary. They are all playing really well and are up for winning. They had a good winter, some of them doing very well."

The set up on the Old Course for the Curtis Cup will be the same as for last year's Ricoh Womens' British Open, for which five of the team qualified and in which Sally Watson finished well.

Lawrence is confident his girls can take the trophy from the Americans.
"I don't think power will be an issue here," he said.

"Knowledge of the course plays a very large part in it. My girls have played it a lot and they know it."

Fifteen of the holes on the 6638 yards course will be played from the white tees for the ticket only championship.

Play starts on Friday, May 30 with morning foursomes and ends on Sunday, June 1, with eight singles ties. The United States won the last match at Bandon Dunes in 2006.

Sales of tickets, which have been limited to 8000 a day, are going extremely well, said Susan Simpson, director of championships, thanks to huge home support.

At a press conference at the Duke's Golf Course on Monday, she said there was also a great deal of American support for the event which is being held over three days for the first time.