BATON ROUGE – LSU senior golfer Aine Donegan of Ireland was named Thursday by the R&A and Captain Catriona Matthew to be a part of Great Britain and Ireland’s 2024 Curtis Cup team.
The GB&I team will meet the eight-players of team U.S.A. in the matches, held biennially. This year’s match is set for Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Sunningdale Golf Club in England.
The Curtis Cup is the most prestigious team trophy for women amateur golfers. First played in 1932, the format is three foursomes and three fourball matches on each of the first two days, and eight singles matches on the final day.
Donegan, who transferred to LSU from Indiana after her freshman season, has posted seven top 10 finishes in her two years in Baton Rouge with a 62-round average of 72.76.
She had probably her best overall LSU tournament in the NCAA Championships in May in Carlsbad, California at the Omni La Costa Resort when she finished tied for fourth with a 72-hole total of 5-under par 283 with rounds of 74-67-71-71. The 67 tied her LSU career low rounds.
“I am extremely happy for Aine getting named to the 2024 Curtis Cup team for GB&I,” said LSU women’s golf head coach Garrett Runion. “Ever since she stepped on campus, it has been one of her goals. She has been diligently putting in the work for a while now, so to see her achieve a big goal like this is pretty cool to see.”
Donegan will be the first LSU player to represent GB&I in the matches, while former Tigers Meredith Duncan (2002), Austin Ernst (2012) and Latanna Stone (2022) have represented the United States. The USGA has named just three-of-the-eight players for 2024 at the time of this release.
“Making the Curtis Cup team on either side is an incredible achievement and to have her be the first LSU player to represent GB&I is special. (Assistant Coach) Alexis (Rather) and I look forward to watching Aine compete this year,” Runion said.
Captain Matthew led Europe to back-to-back Solheim Cup victories. Signaling a new era for the GB&I side, the Scot will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role for the match. Matthew was a member of three GB&I Curtis Cup teams in a decorated amateur career. She has been through a full variety of experiences as a player in the losing side in 1990, the winning side in 1992 at Royal Liverpool and again in 1994 when GB&I retained the trophy.
Of the 42 contests, the USA have won 31 matches, Great Britain and Ireland have won 8 with 3 matches tied.