GB AND I v CONTINENT GIRLS IN U16s MATCH AT ROYAL PORTHCAWL

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LADIES GOLF UNIONA team of six girl golfers from Great Britain and Ireland will cross swords with their opposite numbers from the Continent of Europe in a new match, to be played for the first time at Royal Porthcawl, Wales, on 24 and 25 June this year.
The match was announced today by the Ladies’ Golf Union and the European Golf Association and will involve 12 youngsters, aged 16 and under, going head to head in four sets of matches over a two day period. All six youngsters will play in two sets of three foursomes and two sets of six singles matches.
Gillian Kirkwood, Chairman of the LGU, said “The standard of girls’ golf is improving all the time, and it was apparent to us that the top girls really deserve the same playing opportunities as their boy counterparts.
"The absence of a girls’ international match was a gap in the schedule of events, and its institution provides an ideal platform for introducing talented young golfers to the pressures and pleasures of team match-play golf."
The new match, the name of which will be announced in the next few weeks, will be played concurrently with the ladies' equivalent, the biennial Vagliano Trophy match, which was first contested between GB and I and Europe in 1959 and which will be defended by the Continent of Europe in Wales.
Gonzaga Escauriaza, EGA President, said "The new International Match will be a welcome addition to the European calendar and will support the trend that our players are reaching elite level at an increasingly younger age. A void will be filled for European girls' golf and we are very grateful for the LGU's cooperation and The R&A's support in inaugurating the first edition this year."
As with the Vagliano Trophy, team selection will be conducted by the LGU and EGA for the GB and I and Continent of Europe teams respectively, with the teams due to be named at the end of May 2011.