An initial Great Britain & Ireland squad of 14 players has been announced by the R&A ahead of next year’s Curtis Cup matches at Quaker Ridge, New York.
The 40th Curtis Cup match will be played from June 8-10, with GB&I attempting to retain the historic trophy after an 11½-8½ win over the United States at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland last year.
Elaine Farquharson-Black, who will captain GB&I for the second time, said: “We have identified a talented group of golfers, including three members of the winning 2016 Curtis Cup team. Each player in the squad is in contention for selection to the team, and we will be monitoring their performances and results closely over the coming months. We will also be closely following the performances of other players not named in this squad who still have the opportunity to play their way into our thinking before the final team selection is made in April.”
Leona Maguire, who is currently the number one woman golfer in the world amateur golf ranking, leads a group from Ireland which also includes Paula Grant, a former R&A Foundation scholar; Olivia Mehaffey, a 2016 team member (pictured), and Annabel Wilson. Maguire won the 2017 Ladies British Amateur Championship at Pyle & Kenfig, while Mehaffey had wins at the Irish Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship and Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play Championship in 2016.
Essex’s Lily May Humphreys, who won the Girls British Open Amateur Championship at Enville earlier this year, features in a strong English contingent of eight players. Hertfordshire’s Alice Hewson is in contention to make her second Curtis Cup appearance after playing in the winning GB&I side in 2016 and Sophie Lamb, who finished as leading amateur at the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns to win the Smyth Salver, is also included.
Scotland’s Shannon McWilliam and Connie Jaffrey make up the squad. A former Scottish Ladies Order of Merit winner in 2015, McWilliam finished runner-up in both the Helen Holm Championship and the Scottish Girls Open Championship this year. Jaffrey attends Kansas State University and has won three times in US collegiate golf, while also triumphing in the 2017 Scottish Ladies Amateur Championship.
The GB&I squad:
Emma Allen (20, Meon Valley, England); Connie Jaffrey (21, Troon Ladies, Scotland); Lianna Bailey (21, Kirby Muxloe, England); Sophie Lamb (20, Clitheroe, England); India Clyburn (21, Woodhall Spa, England); Leona Maguire (23, Slieve Russell, Ireland); Annabell Fuller (15, Roehampton, England); Shannon McWilliam (18, Aboyne, Scotland); Paula Grant (24, Lisburn, Ireland); Olivia Mehaffey (20, Royal County Down Ladies, Ireland); Alice Hewson (20, Berkhamsted, England); Isobel Wardle (17, Prestbury, England); Lily May Humphreys (15, Stoke by Nayland, England); Annabel Wilson (16, Lurgan, Ireland)
The final eight-player team will be announced on April 26 and will include the two golfers who are placed highest in the World Amateur Golf Ranking on April 25. In addition, a further six players will be selected by the R&A Women’s Selection Committee, including up to four non-travelling reserves.