Catriona Matthew, who led Europe to back-to-back Solheim Cup victories, will flip her consideration to the beginner recreation when she captains Nice Britain and Eire towards america within the 2024 Curtis Cup at Sunningdale.
The Scot, who gained the 2009 AIG Ladies’s Open, succeeds Elaine Ratcliffe in a job which is normally held by amateurs.
The R&A say Matthew’s appointment alerts “a brand new period for the GB&I facet”.
Matthew performed for 3 Curtis Cup groups earlier than turning skilled.
She was within the shedding crew in 1990, the profitable facet in 1992 at Royal Liverpool, and in 1994 when GB&I retained the trophy with a tie.
She additionally gained the Ladies’s Beginner championship in 1993 earlier than embarking on a profession that introduced 11 skilled wins together with six on the LPGA Tour.
The 53-year-old from North Berwick captained Europe to Solheim Cup success at Gleneagles in 2019 after which, for less than the continent’s second away success, on the Inverness Membership in Toledo, Ohio two years later.
“Taking part in within the Curtis Cup is the head for younger beginner golfers,” Matthew stated. “I used to be thrilled to make the Nice Britain and Eire crew thrice as a participant and I really feel simply as privileged to be the captain in 2024.
“I keep in mind the feelings of competing within the Curtis Cup – the thrill of being on a crew quite than competing individually, in addition to the need to carry out nicely in your crew and stress you placed on your self to not allow them to down.
“As a captain it’s my job to navigate the gamers by means of these conditions and to assist them imagine what is feasible.”
Matthew plans to attract on her experiences of main Europe to their thrilling Solheim Cup triumphs.
“My objective is to channel all my enjoying and captaining abilities into this Nice Britain and Eire Curtis Cup crew to optimise their efficiency,” she stated.
GB&I final gained this match towards America in 2016 at Dun Laoghaire in Eire.
“The Curtis Cup has lengthy been a distinguished occasion for girls’s elite beginner golf and Nice Britain and Eire has loved some incredible wins,” stated R&A chief government Martin Slumbers.
“We are actually seeing the beginner degree of the game evolve right into a extra aggressive period and imagine that Catriona is the perfect positioned captain to information the crew on this interval.”
The forty third Curtis Cup match might be performed at Sunningdale’s Outdated Course from 30 August to 1 September 2024.
