GB & IRELAND CURTIS CUP TEAM ANNOUNCED

The R&A has announced the Great Britain and Ireland team to face the United States in the 40th Curtis Cup match, which will be played at Quaker Ridge in New York in June.

GB&I will be defending the historic trophy after securing an 11½-8½ win at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland two years ago.

An eight-player team and one non-travelling reserve have been selected for the three-day match, with five players from England featuring alongside two Irishwomen and one Scot.

Surrey's Annabel Fuller has been picked for the Curtis Cup team
Surrey’s Annabel Fuller has been picked for the Curtis Cup team

The GB&I team includes 16-year-old Lily May Humphreys from Essex, who won the 2018 Helen Holm Championship at Royal Troon last week to add to the Girls British Open Amateur Championship and English Women’s Amateur Championship titles she won last year.

Olivia Mehaffey and Alice Hewson will make their second appearances after featuring in the winning side in 2016.

Elaine Farquharson-Black, who will captain GB&I in the Curtis Cup for the second time, said: “There have been a number of players who have been in impressive form recently, and it was a difficult decision to choose only eight.

The players selected will now have a wonderful opportunity to perform on the international stage in one of the world’s most prestigious events, and I’m sure that they will give their very best as we attempt to retain the trophy against a talented team from the United States.”

Ireland’s Leona Maguire, currently the number two golfer in the world amateur ranking, will turn professional next month and has ruled herself out of contention for selection, while England’s Isobel Wardle, who was also named in the provisional GB&I squad, has decided to focus on her school work.

The GB&I team:
India Clyburn (21, Woodhall Spa, England)
Lily May Humphreys (16, Stoke-by-Nayland, England)
Annabell Fuller (15, Roehampton, England)
Sophie Lamb (20, Clitheroe, England)
Paula Grant (24, Lisburn, Ireland)
Shannon McWilliam (18, Aboyne, Scotland)
Alice Hewson (20, Berkhamsted, England)
Olivia Mehaffey (20, Royal County Down Ladies, Ireland)

Non-travelling reserve: Annabel Wilson (17, Lurgan, Ireland)

Quake Ridge in New York will host the Curtis Cup from June 8-10
Quake Ridge in New York will host the Curtis Cup from June 8-10