Duke's Leona Maguire
(Golfweek Photo)
(December 15, 2017) - Leona Maguire will spearhead Great Britain & Ireland’s attempt to retain the Curtis Cup at Quaker Ridge next year. The Duke player is one of three victorious 2016 GB&I team members named to the provisional 14-woman squad for next year’s match to be played from June 8-10.
Arizona State’s Olivia Mehaffey and England’s Alice Hewson are the other two members from the winning team at Dun Laoghaire, Ireland last year.
Maguire, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is seeking to make her fourth appearance in the biennial match. She and Mehaffey are joined by fellow Irish players Paula Grant and Annabel Wilson.
Hewson, who played in the opening-day four-ball and final-day singles sessions last year, is one of eight English players named to the squad along with Sophie Lamb, winner of the Smyth Salver as leading amateur in this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Connie Jaffrey is one of two Scottish players on the squad. Jaffrey, the reigning Ladies Scottish Amateur champion, is a senior at Kansas State where she is a three-time winner. There are no Welsh players on the squad.
“We have identified a talented group of golfers, including three members of the winning 2016 Curtis Cup team,” said captain Elaine Farquharson-Black, who led GB&I to victory last year. “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.”
The eight-player team will be announced on April 26 next year. The two highest ranked World Amateur Golf Ranking players on April 25 automatically make the team, with six players selected by the R&A’s Women’s Selection Committee.
GB&I Provisional Team
Emma Allen, 20, England
Lianna Bailey, 21, England
India Clyburn, 21, England
Annabell Fuller, 15, England
Paula Grant, 24, Ireland
Alice Hewson, 20, England
Lily May Humphreys, 15, England
Connie Jaffrey, 21, Scotland
Sophie Lamb 20, England
Leona Maguire, 23, Ireland
Shannon McWilliam, 18, Scotland
Olivia Mehaffey, 20, Ireland
Isobel Wardle, 17, England
Annabel Wilson, 16, Ireland
ABOUT THE
Officially named "The Women's
International Cup," the first Curtis Cup
wasn't officially held until 1932. The
biennial competition features the best
female players from the United States of
America pitted against a similar squad
from Great Britain and Ireland. While it
was hoped that many nations would
eventually join the Match, the Curtis Cup
has remained a two-sided competition.
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