KirkwoodGolf: LGU INTRODUCE NEW CURTIS CUP SELECTION SYSTEM FOR JUNE DEFENCE

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE
LADIES GOLF UNION

Captain Tegwen Matthews, who will lead her team in defence of the Curtis Cup this year, has welcomed the introduction of a new approach to selecting the 8 players who will represent Great Britain and Ireland at the 38^th staging of the Match against the USA at St Louis Country Club, Missouri, from June 6 to 8.

This follows the LGU’s decision to move away from more traditional team selection methods, and instead place reliance on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (“WAGR”) and the LGU Order of Merit for most of the team places.

LGU Chairman Trish Wilson explained “Increasingly, the top players are competing around the world rather than just in Great Britain and Ireland, so it is more difficult for selectors to watch them in action. In addition, the players themselves have been asking for more information on how they can position themselves for consideration for a Curtis Cup place.”

For this year’s Curtis Cup, the team will comprise:-

+ The top 4 players on WAGR;

+ The top 2 players on the LGU Order of Merit not already selected from WAGR; and

+ Two players chosen through more traditional selection methods.

The cut-off point for automatic selections will be the end of the last LGU Order of Merit event before the Match, namely, the Welsh Open Stroke Play Championship on May 4. The team will be announced on May 6.

Selectors from the four home countries will continue to make a contribution, proportionate to the need to select two of the eight team members.

The Chairman said “We recognise there remains some merit in checking on certain individual players in a competitive situation, so while the use of selectors will be much less than in the past, they may be asked, on occasion, to attend an event and report back on a player’s performance.

"This places players, and not pre-determined golf championships, at the heart of the selection activity.”

In a further change, the LGU has designated one of its Directors, Sheena McElroy, as Chairman of International Teams. She will be responsible for liaising closely with the Team Captain, co-ordinating any activity of the selectors in relation to the two players they will chose, and chairing the meeting at the beginning of May at which these two players will be selected.

Team captain Tegwen Matthews, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, said: “This new selection process introduces a greater level of clarity and fairness and will be welcomed by the players. They’ll know what they have to do to play their way onto the Curtis Cup team!
"I believe my remit is to lead and inspire whatever team I have to perform to their best, and beyond anything they have ever done before, and to have the same passion about retaining the Curtis Cup that I have.”

CURRENT WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS
(from top 300)
+Leading four players at May 4 cut-off will gain
automatic selection to GBandI Curtis Cup team
4 Stephanie Meadow (Ireland)
9 Georgia Hall (England)
34 Bronte Law (England)
43 Chloe Williams (Wales)
56 Charlotte Thomas (England)
60 Hayley Davis (England)
78 Gabriella Cowley (England)
96 Leona Maguire (Ireland)
109 Eilidh Briggs (Scotland)
119 Lisa Maguire (Ireland)
121 Meghan MacLaren (England)
125 Gemma Dryburgh (Scotland)
142 Alexandra Peters (England)
166 Paula Grant (Ireland)
192 Amber Ratcliffe (England)
194 Bethan Popel (Enaldn)
204 Becky Harries (Wales)
253 Alison Knowles
258 Sarah-Jane Boyd
286 Elizabeth Mallett
287 Rachael Watton
299 Sian Evans

CURRENT LGU ORDER OF MERIT TOP 50
+Top 2 at May 4 from this table, who have not qualified among top 4 in WAGR, will gain automatic selection for Curtis Cup team of eight.
+The only LGU Order of Merit events between now and May 4 are:
Jan 29-Feb 1: Portuguese women's international championship (Montado).
Feb 26-Mar 2: Spanish women's international championship (El Saler, Valencia).
Apr 25-27: Helen Holm Scottish women's open amateur stroke-play championship (Troon Portland and Royal Troon).
May 3-4: Welsh women's open amateur stroke-play championship (Prestatyn)

Georgia Hall

England

280

1555.56

Gabriella Cowley

England

237.375

1078.98

Lisa Maguire

Ireland

215.5

1026.19