FAR HILLS, N.J. (Nov. 17, 2017) – The USGA’s International Team Selection Committee has invited 12 players to participate in a practice session in advance of the 2018 Curtis Cup Match. The session for prospective players will take place Dec. 17-18 at Shoal Creek (Ala.), host site of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.

A biennial competition, the 40th Curtis Cup Match will be contested June 8-10, 2018, at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. The Great Britain & Ireland Team defeated the USA Team, 11.5-8.5, in the 2016 Match at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Enniskerry, Ireland.

The following 12 players have accepted invitations to the practice session:

• Sarah Burnham, 21, of Maple Grove, Minn. (Michigan State University) ... replaced Robynn Ree
• Mariel Galdiano, 19, of Pearl City, Hawaii (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Kristen Gillman, 20, of Austin, Texas (University of Alabama)
• Rachel Heck, 16, of Memphis, Tenn.
• Cheyenne Knight, 20, of Aledo, Texas (University of Alabama)
• Jennifer Kupcho, 20, of Westminster, Colo. (Wake Forest University)
• Andrea Lee, 19, of Hermosa Beach, Calif. (Stanford University)
• Lucy Li, 15, of Redwood City, Calif.
• Haley Moore, 18, of Escondido, Calif. (University of Arizona)
• Sophia Schubert, 21, of Oak Ridge, Tenn. (University of Texas)
• Lauren Stephenson, 20, of Lexington, S.C. (University of Alabama)
• Lilia Vu, 20, of Fountain Valley, Calif. (University of California, Los Angeles)

Two U.S. Women’s Amateur champions – Schubert (2017) and Gillman (2015) – are among the players who have accepted invitations. One USGA runner-up was also invited: Lee was runner-up in the 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior to three-time USGA champion Eun Jeong Seong.

Virginia Derby Grimes, an accomplished amateur player who won the 1998 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and was a member of three victorious USA Curtis Cup Teams (1998, 2000 and 2006), will serve as captain of the USA Team. She was also a member of Alabama’s winning team in the 1997 USGA Women’s State Team Championship and finished runner-up in the 2004 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. A member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and a graduate of Auburn University, Derby Grimes served on the USGA Women’s Committee from 2003-2004.

"There are so many incredibly talented female golfers in the United States, and I’m very excited to bring 12 of the top amateurs together for this practice session, which will focus on the four-ball and foursomes formats used in the Curtis Cup Match,” said Derby Grimes, an Alabama resident. “We are grateful to Shoal Creek for the opportunity to use their world-class facilities, and we look forward to conducting this session at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open host site.”

Invitation to the Curtis Cup practice session does not guarantee selection to the USA Team that will compete in June. Players not invited will also be considered for inclusion on the team.

The Curtis Cup Match is contested by two teams of eight female amateur players, one from the United States of America and one from Great Britain and Ireland, which is comprised of England, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The USGA’s International Team Selection Committee selects the USA Team, while The R&A selects the GB&I Team.

Elaine Farquharson-Black will serve as GB&I captain. Farquharson-Black, a native of Scotland, represented GB&I in the 1990 and 1992 Curtis Cup Matches and captained the victorious 2016 team.

The USA Team, which leads the overall series, 28-8-3, last won in 2014 at St. Louis Country Club. The 1986 Match at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchison, Kan., is the only time the GB&I team has won in the United States. All-time Curtis Cup results can be accessed in the USGA’s online Media Center: http://mediacenter.usga.org/Curtis-Cup-Match.

Visual Assets
The below link contains a recent photo of each player selected for the 2018 USA Curtis Cup Team practice session. These assets, to view and download, are strictly for editorial use. Please click on the link below to access this content:

2018 USA Curtis Cup Team Practice Squad

Once you’ve logged on, you have several options:

• See a large version of any of the photos displayed by clicking directly on the thumbnail image.
• View additional caption information by clicking on the icon directly under the image.
• Download photo(s)
• Select the photo(s) you wish to download by checking each box in the upper left-hand corner of the thumbnail(s).
• Click on the word “Download” at the top of the page.

The assets contained herein are the property of the United States Golf Association and are to be used solely in conjunction with USGA news and information. They are not to be used in conjunction with non-USGA materials or for commercial purposes of any kind. Caption information can be found in the File Info field in Photoshop. All USGA photos must carry the copyright credit (©USGA/photographer’s name).

*Please Note: The photos we are sending to you are either high quality JPEG compressed files or TIF files in RGB color space. They should be launched in Adobe Photoshop for best quality reproduction. In an effort to provide to you the highest quality images, unless otherwise noted, we have only made basic color corrections and have not sharpened the images. By doing this, we are allowing you or your prepress to make the enhancements and proper amount of sharpening appropriate for your specific needs. The RGB photo files can be easily converted to CMYK or Grayscale in Adobe Photoshop if necessary.

About the USGA

The USGA celebrates, serves and advances the game of golf. Founded in 1894, we conduct many of golf’s premier professional and amateur championships, including the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. With The R&A, we govern the sport via a global set of playing, equipment and amateur status rules. Our operating jurisdiction for these governance functions is the United States, its territories and Mexico. The USGA Handicap System is utilized in more than 40 countries and our Course Rating System covers 95 percent of the world’s golf courses, enabling all golfers to play on an equitable basis. The USGA campus in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, is home to the Association’s Research and Test Center, where science and innovation are fueling a healthy and sustainable game for the future. The campus is also home to the USGA Golf Museum, where we honor the game by curating the world’s most comprehensive archive of golf artifacts. To learn more, visit usga.org.