Curtis Cup beckons for Coughlan
Claire’s inclusion was warmly greeted at Little Island yesterday but there was deep disappointment at Ennis Golf Club where Tricia Mangan, who had been widely expected to claim a place in the side, was nominated only as second reserve.
Ms Coughlan, 24, played a key role in Ireland’s Triple Crown victory in the Home Internationals in 2003, and has been a member of a succession of Irish teams since her teenage years.
Indeed, she captured the Irish Close Championship at the age of 19 in 1999 and reached the semi-finals at Donegal last summer, when she also won the Irish stroke-play championship.
The B&I side will be captained by another Cork lady, Ada O’Sullivan of Monkstown, who has worked selflessly to ensure that her side is one of the best-prepared ever to face the inevitable powerful challenge of the Americans, who include the fabulous 14-year-old Michelle Wie.
Having led B&I to victory over continental Europe in the Vagliano Trophy at Baltray last July (a side that included Trish Mangan), she also arranged matches against the Lancashire and Cheshire men’s county teams, along with Saturday’s Weetabix Challenge, in which the LGU squad won the foursomes by 4 1/2-31/2 and took nine of the 16 singles with two halved.
Before the selectors named the side, Ada expressed the view that they faced a “ferocious” task, pointing out that whittling down the panel to eight players would be extremely difficult.
“I can think of at least 10 with justifiable claims on places,” she said.
And when presented with her octet yesterday, she claimed: “We have a very solid team with a nucleus of players experienced at playing at the highest level. The results from the two matches against the men’s county teams have hardened us up for match- play and that was followed by a great win over the European Tour professionals. The results from these matches have left me in no doubt that our eight players, on the day, can produce a performance worthy of bringing back the Curtis Cup.”
Emma Duggleby (Malton & Norton and England), 32, a member of the 2000 and 2002 teams, and Fame More (Chesterfield and England), 22, who also played in ’02, are joined by six new caps - Anna Highgate (Southerndown and Wales), 21; Anne Laing (Vale of Leven and Scotland), 29; Danielle Masters (Bearsted Tudor Park), 21; Shelley McKevitt (Reading and England), 24; and Nicola Timmins (Sene Valley) 23.
The reserves are Lynn Kenny (Stirling and Scotland), 24; Trish Mangan (Ennis and Ireland), 30; Kate Phillips (Creigiau and Wales), 21; Clare Queen (Drumpellier and Scotland), 20.
The Curtis Cup was first contested at Wentworth in 1932. Britain &
Ireland were last successful at Killarney in 1996, under the captaincy of Ita Butler, the current President of the Irish Ladies Golfing Union. The LGU have planned for an attendance at Formby in the region of 6,000, but still intend selling tickets at the gate.
Tickets costing stg£28, to cover the two practice days, the opening ceremony and both matchdays, can be purchased online at www.lgu.org.
Interestingly, the idea for the Curtis Cup was conceived in conversation by the Hezlet sisters from Portrush, May and Florence, and sisters Miss Harriot S. and Miss Margaret Curtis of Boston. The first Irish player to be capped was Mrs J.B. (Pat) Walker, who made her debut in the second match in 1934 and the first in America. The initial “double” representation came in 1938 when Mrs Walker was joined by Clarrie Reddan (nee Tiernan), the matriarch of the legendary Co Louth golfing family.
Part of the history of the Curtis Cup surrounds another Co Louth golfer, the great Philomena Garvey. She played in six matches between 1948 and 1960 and was on the first successful side at Muirfield in 1952, and again at Sandwich in ’56. However, for the 1958 renewal, serious controversy surrounded Philomena. The contentious point was the team emblem: the Union Jack. She informed the LGU that she couldn’t wear the Union Jack but was happy with the old badge embodying the emblems of the four home countries. The LGU stood their ground and Miss Garvey declined to play. Subsequently, common sense prevailed and the badge was changed.
Ireland’s Curtis Cup representatives to date are:
Clarrie Tiernan, 1938 and ’46; Mrs J.B. Walker, 1934, '36, '38; Philomena Garvey, 1948, '50, '52, '54, '56, '60; Ita Burke (later Mrs Butler) 1966; Mary McKenna, 1970, '72, '74, '76, '78, '80, '82, '84, '86; Maureen Madill, 1980; Claire Nesbitt, 1980; Claire Hourihane, 1984, '86, '88, '92; Lillian Behan, 1986; Eileen Rose Power, 1994; Suzanne O'Brien (nee Fanagan), 2000. Mrs P.G. (Kitty) McCann selected in 1952 due to illness.
Ada O'Sullivan becomes the fifth Irish captain after Baba Beck (1954), Daisy Ferguson (1958), Maire O'Donnell (1982) and Ita Butler (1996).
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