DURHAM – In preparation for the 2022 Curtis Cup, the United States Golf Association (USGA) International Team Selection Working Group has invited Duke women’s golf junior Erica Shepherd ,along with 11 other golfers, to attend a practice session Jan. 15-16 at Mountain Lake Golf Club in Lake Wales, Fla.
Along with Shepherd, Jenny Bae (Georgia), Jensen Castle (Kentucky), Megha Ganne, Rachel Heck (Stanford), Julia Johnson (Mississippi), Gurleen Kaur (Baylor), Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest), Emilia Migliaccio (Wake Forest), Brooke Seay (Stanford), Aneka Seumanutafa (Ohio State) and Rose Zhang (Stanford) also received invitations.
Castle and Zhang were previously named to the 2022 USA Curtis Cup Team as automatic selections after winning the 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and 2021 Mark H. McCormack Medal, respectively. For the others, an invitation to the Curtis Cup practice session does not guarantee selection to the eight-player USA Team. Players not invited will also be considered for inclusion on the team.
Shepherd, a native of Greenwood, Ind., was a 2021 WGCA and Golfweek Second Team All-America selection and was recently named to the ANNIKA Award Watch list to conclude the fall. She turned in a 2-0 ledger in match play at the East Lake Cup in October and carded a 71.56 stroke average to open the 2021 campaign. This past summer, Shepherd helped lead the United States to a 33-27 victory over the International squad in the Arnold Palmer Cup.
The 42nd Curtis Cup Match will take place June 10-12, at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.
Shepherd is one of three USGA champions among the players invited: Castle (2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur), Shepherd (2017 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball) and Zhang (2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior).
Duke alumna Sarah LeBrun Ingram, of Nashville, Tenn., will return as captain of the USA Team for the 2022 Curtis Cup Match. A three-time champion of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, Ingram was a member of the 1992, 1994 and 1996 USA Curtis Cup Teams, where she held a 2-1 record in singles matches.
“The amateur talent in the United States is so incredibly strong right now, and it’s an honor to gather with this group for a practice session next month,” said Ingram. “We have a great mix of young women, including many players who helped lead us to victory in Wales just a few months ago and some players who have played fantastic golf this fall on the collegiate level who I am excited to get to know. I’m very much looking forward to our time together and I know the players are as well.”
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 composed of England, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The USGA’s International Team Selection Working Group selects the USA Team, while The R&A selects the GB&I Team.
The USA defeated Great Britain & Ireland 12.5-7.5 in August to win overseas for the first time since 2008. The USA leads the overall series, 30-8-3.
Since 1992, the Blue Devils have had at least one representative in the Curtis Cup, including one in 14 of the last 15 times it has been contested. It is the best streak of any school in the nation.
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