GB&I Curtis Cup team named
The eight Great Britain & Ireland heroines who will try to wrest back the Curtis Cup from the United States have been named.
World number one amateur Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell) will lead the team on home soil at Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, when the two sides do battle from June 10 to 12.
England’s Bronte Law (Bramhall) and Charlotte Thomas (Moonah Links) join Maguire in having experienced the competition before, while the remainder of the outfit will be made up of five newcomers.
Maria Dunne (Skerries), Alice Hewson (Berkhamstead), Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough), Olivia Mehaffey (Royal County Down) and Rochelle Morris (Woodsome Hall) make up the rest of the team with Lianna Bailey (Kirby Muxloe) named as first reserve.
GB&I will be captained by Aberdeen solicitor Elaine Farquharson-Black, who played in the matches in 1990 and 1992 and is the first Scot to skipper a Curtis Cup team for 40 years.
“We have an extremely talented team which has considerable experience of playing amateur golf at the highest level,” she said.
“I am looking forward to meeting up with the team at The Castle Golf Club to prepare for the match. With some of the best players in the world on both sides, it is going to be a really exciting Curtis Cup.”
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
