Amateur golfBrian KeoghCurtis Cup, Olivia Mehaffey, Annabel Wilson, Julie McCarthy

Mehaffey, Wilson and McCarthy named in initial Curtis Cup squad

Amateur golfBrian KeoghCurtis Cup, Olivia Mehaffey, Annabel Wilson, Julie McCarthy
Mehaffey, Wilson and McCarthy named in initial Curtis Cup squad
Olivia Mehaffey hits her tee shot on hole No. 2 during the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Picture: Augusta National Golf Club

Olivia Mehaffey hits her tee shot on hole No. 2 during the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Picture: Augusta National Golf Club

Olivia Mehaffey has been named with Annabel Wilson and Julie McCarthy in an initial Great Britain and Ireland squad of ten players for next year’s Curtis Cup match at Conwy Golf Club in Wales. 

The 41st Curtis Cup match will be played from Friday 12 – Sunday 14 June 2020 with GB&I attempting to regain the historic trophy after the United States recorded a commanding 17-3 victory at Quaker Ridge in New York last year. 

Elaine Ratcliffe, who will captain GB&I in the Curtis Cup for the first time, said: “We have a strong pool of players to choose from throughout GB&I and I’m delighted with the ten players we have selected for the initial squad.

“Each player’s performance and results will be monitored closely over the coming months and we will be looking for each of them to maintain a high standard as they try to secure their places in the team. 

“There are many other talented players who can be added to this squad over the next few months. We will be following performances closely before the Curtis Cup team is announced in May.”

Mehaffey, the highest-ranked member of the squad at number 19 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™, is aiming to make her third Curtis Cup appearance.

Having made her debut in 2016, where she secured 3½ points for the victorious GB&I team, Mehaffey was also a standout player in last year’s tough defeat at the 2018 Curtis Cup where she helped achieve 2½ of the team’s 3 point total.

Currently attending Arizona State University, Mehaffey has recorded three collegiate wins this year. 

Also in contention for the 2020 team are Mehaffey’s team mates from  2018, Shannon McWilliam, Annabell Fuller and Lily May Humphreys, who has enjoyed an excellent 2019, winning the Annika Invitational Europe, Irish Women’s Open and Welsh Ladies’ Open stroke play championships.  

Emily Toy, the Women’s Amateur Champion and an R&A Foundation scholar, has been named in the initial squad and is hoping to make her Curtis Cup debut in 2020.

The squad features a further five potential debutants including Hannah Darling, the Scottish Girls’ Open champion, Annabel Wilson, the Irish Women’s Close champion, Hazel MacGarvie, Julie McCarthy (who had an outstanding year for Auburn) and Isobel Wardle. 

Lisburn’s Paula Grant or Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh, who has made a strong start to college life with Wake Forest and impressed alongside the professionals in the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Massereene and Galgorm Castle in August, were not included.

Curtis Cup, GB&I squad:

  • Hannah Darling (16, Broomieknowe, Scotland)

  • Shannon McWilliam (20, Aboyne, Scotland)

  • Annabell Fuller (17, Roehampton, England)

  • Olivia Mehaffey (21, Royal County Down Ladies, Ireland)

  • Lily May Humphreys (17, Stoke by Nayland, England)

  • Emily Toy (21, Carlyon Bay, England)

  • Hazel MacGarvie (19, Royal Troon, Scotland)

  • Isobel Wardle (19, Prestbury, England) 

  • Julie McCarthy (20, Forrest Little, Ireland)

  • Annabel Wilson (18, Lurgan, Ireland) 

The final eight player GB&I team will be announced on 11 May 2020 and will include the two golfers who are placed highest in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ in the week prior. A further six players will be selected by The R&A Women’s Selection Committee. Up to four non-travelling reserves will also be announced.