Irish trio named on GB&I Curtis Cup team

Sara Byrne, Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan have been given the nod for Sunningdale in England at the end of the month.

Cork golfer Sara Byrne teeing off the 18th in Lahinch on the final day of the Arnold Palmer Cup.

Irish golfers Sara Byrne, Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan have been selected on the eight-woman Great Britain and Ireland team to face the USA in the 43rd Curtis Cup match at Sunningdale in England at the end of the month.

Douglas golfer Byrne, 23, Coulter, aged 20 from Kirkistown Castle, and Lahinch’s 22-year-old Donegan will line up alongside three English and two Scottish team-mates as they bid to regain the upper hand for GB & I in the biennial women’s amateur matchplay team event for the first time since 2016. That was when Ireland last had such a strong representation, on home soil at Dun Laoghaire with Maria Dunne, Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey helped their side to an 11.5-8.5 victory.

Double Solheim Cup-winning European captain Catriona Matthew will skipper GB & I at the famous Berkshire parkland course and the Scotswoman said: “I’m really looking forward to the match at Sunningdale. We have selected eight players who we believe provide us the best opportunity of regaining the Curtis Cup against the United States of America on home soil.

“This role means a lot to me. When I was an amateur golfer, getting in the Curtis Cup side was always the main focus. I was lucky enough to play in it three times.

“With all my experience as a professional in the Solheim Cup, as a player and captain, I’ve enjoyed the chance to go back to where it all started. I’m really excited about leading the team at Sunningdale.” England’s Lottie Woad spearheads the GB & I side as the current number one on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and is one of five automatic selections, including Byrne (57th) and Coulter (72nd) based on those WAGR rankings. Donegan, ranked 81st in the world, is one of three selections.

The side also features sisters Euphemie and Patience Rhodes, the Englishwomen becoming the first siblings to compete in the Curtis Cup since Ireland’s Leona and Lisa Maguire in 2010.

A fourth Irishwoman, Anna Foster, from Elm Park, was named as one of two reserves when the GB & I team was announced on Thursday.

Curtis Cup GB&I team (Sunningdale, Friday, Aug 30 to Sunday, September 1):

- Sara Byrne, Ireland, Douglas, 23 

- Beth Coulter, Ireland, Kirkistown Castle, 20 

- Hannah Darling, Scotland, Broomieknowe, 21

- Aine Donegan, Ireland, Lahinch, 22 

- Lorna McClymont, Scotland, Milngavie, 23 

- Euphemie Rhodes, England, Burnham & Berrow, 22 

- Patience Rhodes, England, Burnham & Berrow, 20 

- Lottie Woad, England, Farnham, 20 

Reserves 

1. Anna Foster, Ireland, Elm Park, 22 

2. Nellie Ong, England, Eaton, 18