PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES’ GOLF UNION
Issued 12th April 2016
The Great Britain and Ireland team to challenge the United States of America, at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club, near Dublin from June 10 to 12, will warm up for the international contest with a "friendly" match against a members' men's team from Castle Golf Club on the south side of Dublin.
The GB and I team of eight players will be finalised immediately after the Helen Holm Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Troon and will be announced on Thursday 28th April at 2pm.
Six of the home line-up will earn automatic selection - the leading four eligible players in the Women's World Amateur Rankings at the designated cut-off point and also the leading two players on the Ladies’ Golf Union Order of Merit not selected through the World Rankings.
The remaining places in the team will go to two players selected by the LGU Selection Panel.
Elaine Farquharson-Black (Deeside), the first Scot to captain the GB and I Curtis Cup team since Belle Robertson in 1976, played in two Curtis Cup and two Vagliano Trophy matches during her playing career. She was also a member of the winning line-up when the match was played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in 1992.
Elaine said
"It is very kind of the Castle Golf Club to allow the GB & I team to use their marvellous facilities to prepare for the Curtis Cup match. I know they have a wonderful short game facility and course and I thank the members for allowing us to visit. “
Elaine and team manager Helen Hewlett, also a past Curtis Cup player and a former British champion, will arrive with the GB and I squad at Castle Golf Club on Wednesday, June 1 and get straight down to practice in the afternoon.
The four-ball match against the Castle GC team will tee off at 1pm on Friday 3rd June.
They will have a further practice session at Castle Golf Club on the morning of Saturday 4th June before being given an organised tour of Dublin in the afternoon.
Castle Golf Club general manager John McCormack said,
"Our captains Bernadette Murray and Paul Williams, and all our members, are honoured to welcome the GB & I Curtis Cup team to our club in advance of the match against the United States and we will do everything possible to assist”
Castle Golf Club is a magnificent 18-hole parkland course in South Dublin. Nestled between Churchtown and Rathfarnham, the club offers its members and guests exceptional playing conditions and facilities. The club celebrated its centenary in 2013 and the course is a fine example of golf course design, originally by Harry Colt.
This will be only the second Curtis Cup match to be played in Ireland. The first, in 1996, was at Killarney and was won by GB and I. Four years ago, at Nairn Golf Club, GB and I came from behind to win the trophy after an excellent match, watched by big galleries.
Further information about the LGU and the Curtis Cup match is available on www.lgu.org.
About the Ladies’ Golf Union (“LGU”)
Founded in 1893, the LGU is the encompassing body for ladies’ amateur golf in Great Britain & Ireland. The LGU Board includes representatives of ladies’ golf’s national governing bodies in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Operational activities are undertaken by a wholly owned subsidiary, LGU Championships Limited (“LGUCL”), which in particular owns and runs the Ricoh Women’s British Open, founded by the LGU in 1976 and one of the five Major Tournaments for Professional Women golfers. LGUCL also has responsibility for running British Amateur Championships and Home International events, and preparing the Great Britain & Ireland teams for representative matches, such as the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy.
For further information please contact;
Susan Simpson
Head of Golf Operations
Ladies’ Golf Union
championships@lgu.org
Ladies Golf News in Scotland, the West of Scotland and Renfrewshire
