Three Irish golfers have been selected as part of 2024 Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team for the match at Sunningdale between Friday 30 August and Sunday 1 September.
Three English and two Scottish have also been selected with Beth Coulter (Kirkistown Castle), Sara Byrne (Douglas), and Áine Donegan (Lahinch) the Irish representatives while Anna Foster (Elma Park) is first reserve.
Sunningdale Golf Club will host the 43rd staging of The Curtis Cup, which is the most prestigious team trophy for women amateur golfers and contested biennially by teams representing Great Britain and Ireland and the United States.
And Coulter (20), who is currently taking part in the match play stages of the AIG Irish Women’s Amateur Close Championship in Roscommon, said she is thrilled to be selected.
“It’s very surreal. We were coming up here yesterday and I took my phone off do not disturb when I got the call from Catriona Matthew. I just looked at my Dad and was like, ‘Oh God this is happening,” said Coulter.
“With three Irish on the team it’s going to be really exciting. I know a lot of us have worked really hard for this over the last number of years. We have come up through the ranks together, Sara and Áine are two of my best friends in golf. This is the pinnacle and to get to do that with them, it’s really really cool.
“The three of us were at that Curtis Cup in 2016, there is a photo of me and Áine standing together. Even just looking at that, when we got selected we sent it to each other and we were like, we’re going to do this together now.
“Irish golf has made really great strides for women. You seen that at Europeans, we had the best finish for the last 41 years. That’s down to the great work that the coaches and the panels are doing with us, it’s starting to pay off.”
Byrne is representing GB&I in the Curtis Cup for the first time. This year, the 2024 Second Team All-American at the University of Miami has represented Ireland in both the Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch in her home country and in the European Ladies’ Team Championship in Spain.
In 2023, she won the Irish Women’s Close Championship, earned low amateur honours in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and represented Ireland in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi. She was in attendance as a fan during the 2016 Curtis Cup at Dún Laoghaire in Ireland when GB&I last defeated the USA.
Coulter is also making her Curtis Cup debut, the Arizona State University student has this year finished eighth in the Irish Women’s Open Stroke Play and advanced to the match play stages in The Women’s Amateur Championship for the fifth consecutive year.
In 2023, she reached the quarter-finals of The Women’s Amateur, finished runner-up in both the Irish Women’s Amateur Open and Irish Women’s Close championships and represented GB&I in the Vagliano Trophy at Royal Dornoch. She represented Ireland in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in 2022 and 2023 and in the Home Internationals from 2017 to 2023.
Donegan is the third Irish debutant. This year, the 2023 Honourable Mention All-American at Louisiana State University has finished tied-fourth in the NCAA Women’s Golf Individual Championship and tied-sixth in the Irish Women’s Open Stroke Play.
In both 2023 and 2024, she advanced to the last-64 in The Women’s Amateur Championship and competed in the US Women’s Open. In last year’s US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, she opened with a 69 and was one stroke off the opening round lead before making the cut.
She has represented Ireland in the Home Internationals four times and went 5-0-1 in the 2019 Girls’ Home Internationals at Downfield.
Lauren Walsh (2021, 2022), Annabel Wilson (2021), Olivia Mehaffey (2016, 2018), Maria Dunne (2016) and Leona Maguire (2016) have all represented Ireland in The Curtis Cup in recent years.
Catriona Matthew is the Team Captain with Gillian Roy the Team Manager in a match that was first played in 1932. The format is three foursomes and three fourball matches on each of the first two days, and eight singles matches on the final day.
“This is a huge achievement for Irish amateur golf. Having Sara, Beth and Áine selected is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and exceptional talent. It also highlights the strength and depth of Golf Ireland’s High Performance pathway, and it is a proud moment for everyone involved in Irish golf,” said Golf Ireland CEO, Mark Kennelly.
“This achievement is not only a celebration of our current crop of players but also an inspiration for young golfers across the country. We look forward to seeing how they perform at Sunningdale, and we are confident they will make Ireland proud.
“Their journey and success will undoubtedly motivate many more golfers to pursue their dreams and continue to elevate the standard of Irish golf.”
Great Britain & Ireland team
Sara Byrne (Douglas)
Beth Coulter (Kirkistown Castle)
Aine Donegan (Lahinch)
Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe, Scotland)
Lorna McClymont (Milngavie, Scotland)
Euphemie Rhodes (Burnham & Berrow, England)
Patience Rhodes (Burnham & Berrow, England)
Lottie Woad (Farnham, England)
Reserves:
Anna Foster (Elm Park)
Nellie Ong (Eaton, England).