Did snubbing the Astor Trophy cost Lisa Maguire a Vagliano Trophy place?

Ireland will have three players on the Great Britain and Ireland team for next month’s Vagliano Trophy at Royal Portcawl - one third of the team.

But the absence of Lisa Maguire from a line-up that features her twin sister Leona, Danielle McVeigh and US-based Stephanie Meadow has shocked both her family and the Irish Ladies Golf Union.

One wonders if the decision by the ILGU not to make the Ireland’s elite players available for selection for next month’s Astor Trophy has played a role.

The ILGU has asked for a written explanation from the LGU over the non-selection of Lisa Maguire, who won this year’s Spanish Ladies Amateur Open, for the match against the Continent of Europe.

One thing is certain, the World Amateur Golf Ranking is not the ultimate yardstick for the LGU when it comes to picking teams.

The three reserves named for the Vagliano Trophy set for Royal Portcawl from June 24-25 are ranked above players chosen for the nine-strong GB & I team. 

Lisa Maguire is ranked 31st in the world. But spare a thought too for Woburn’s Charley Hull, who at 17th is the third highest ranked player from GB & I and Europe’s No 6.

GB & I Vagliano Trophy team (in World Amateur Golf Ranking order)

12 Stephanie Meadow (Royal Portrush, Ireland)

14 Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell, Ireland)

26 Pamela Pretswell (Bothwell Castle, Scotland)

38 Holly Clyburn (Woodhall Spa, England)

47 Kelsey McDonald (Nairn Dunbar, Scotland)

79 Amy Boulden (Llandudno Maesdu, Wales)

135 Louise Kenney (Pitreavie, Scotland)

160 Kelly Tidy (Royal Birkdale, England)

737 Danielle McVeigh (Royal County Down Ladies, Ireland)

Reserves:

17 Charley Hull (Woburn, England)

31 Lisa Maguire (Slieve Russell, Ireland)

120 Charlotte Ellis (Minchinhampton, England)