Stirling golfer to represent her country in historic contest

University of Stirling golf star Lorna McClymont will this week compete in the prestigious Curtis Cup – which pits the best women amateur golfers in Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) against their American counterparts.

Lorna – a sports scholar at Stirling, Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – is part of an eight-strong GB&I team which will compete at the famous Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, in front of Sky Sports cameras.

Of the eight golfers selected for GB&I, Lorna – who graduates in Sports Studies from Stirling this year – is the only one based in the UK, with her seven teammates at universities in the United States.

When the three-day competition gets under way on Friday [August 30], Lorna will be looking to add to her run of recent successes – which have seen her crowned champion at the 2024 Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship, and the 2023 Irish and Women’s Open Championships. She finished runner-up in this year’s Women’s Amateur Championship and has also twice won the R&A Student Tour Series Order of Merit.

Excited

Speaking ahead of the event, Lorna – who is ranked second in Scotland and 95th in the world in the World Amateur Golf Ranking – said: “I’m really looking forward to competing at the Curtis Cup this week. We have a great team, and everyone is so excited to get going.

“Representing Great Britain and Ireland is very special – so my main goal for is to make sure I enjoy it, take it all in and have a great week.

“We are all focused on doing everything we can to get the win back.”

The Curtis Cup was first established in 1932 and has been held biennially ever since, with the host venue switching between Great Britain and Ireland and the United States. The United States have dominated – with 31 wins, compared to GB&I’s eight. Three matches were tied.

The United States have won the past three events – with GB&I’s last win coming in 2016 at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Ireland.

The 2024 Curtis Cup is the 43rd staging of the competition and Lorna will be joined at Sunningdale by teammates Aine Donegan, Beth Coulter, Hannah Darling, Lottie Woad, Euphemie Rhodes, Patience Rhodes, and Sara Byrne. The team is captained by professional golfer and Stirling alumna Catriona Matthew OBE.

Proud

Many of those who have competed in the Curtis Cup have gone on to play professionally. University of Stirling Head of Golf Dean Robertson, also a professional golfer, said that the competition provided an excellent opportunity for Lorna to showcase her talent at the highest level.

He said: “We are all incredibly proud of Lorna’s talent and her success on the golf course – and her selection for Great Britain and Ireland at the Curtis Cup is deserved recognition of her achievements.

“To represent your country is an amazing privilege and the Curtis Cup is the platform which propelled the likes of Catriona Matthew to go on and have a long and illustrious career.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Lorna – she has the game and is part of a very strong team; so we’re in for an exciting three days of competition. Everyone at the University wishes her all the best.”

Former European Tour player Dean is captain of the GB&I team that will compete in next year’s Walker Cup – the men’s equivalent of the Curtis Cup. That contest will take place at the exclusive Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach on September 6 and 7, 2025.

The Curtis Cup sees three foursomes and three fourball matches played on each of the first two days, with eight singles matches on the final day. All three days will be broadcast on Sky Sports Mix.