IN-FORM Annabel Wilson is primed to play a key role for GB&I this week in the Curtis Cup which gets underway tomorrow at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
GB&I will go into the event as underdogs and with only one player - Annabel Fuller – returning from the 2018 staging but Wilson, a veteran of numerous Irish teams at both junior and senior level, isn’t phased by GB&I’s lack of Curtis Cup experience.
“We have a very strong team,” said Wilson who will be making her Curtis Cup debut.
“Experience can sometimes be overrated. It can work both ways.”
It’s difficult to argue with a golfer who has played Vagliano Trophy at both junior and senior level and lined up for Ireland in the 2018 Women's World Amateur Team Championship.
That team know-how hasn’t been missed by GB&I captain Elaine Radcliffe who also commented on Annabel’s, "experience going back a number of years, having broken through when she was incredibly young, doing what she did at the World Team.”
The Curtis Cup is the most prestigious team trophy for women amateur golfers and is contested biennially by teams representing Great Britain and Ireland and the United States.
First played in 1932, the match is organised by The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) with this year’s staging taking place a year later than scheduled as a result of the pandemic.
The event is competed for over three days with 20 points on offer. The winner of each match scores a point for their team, with ½ point for any match that is tied after 18 holes.
On each of the first two days, three foursomes and three fourball matches are played.
On the final day, the match takes the form of eight singles matches. If the match is tied at the end of play, the previous holders of the trophy retain the Curtis Cup.
USA regained the Curtis Cup at Quaker Ridge Golf Club after a 17-3 victory over GB&I. Team USA's win was by the largest margin in Curtis Cup history.
Wilson has long been recognised as a fantastic talent with her ball-striking particularly admired. The player herself believes that her game is more rounded than before with all aspects ‘levelling up’.
In her last competitive outing, at the recent Home Internationals, she won all three of her singles matches to provide a useful confidence boost ahead of this week’s challenge in Wales.
“I played nicely. In the past, I’d have relied on my long game but I’ve worked hard on my short game and I’m converting more putts,” she said.
Wilson and fellow Irish international, Lauren Walsh, will be competing in the event for the first time, and follow in the footsteps of recent Irish players including Olympians Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire, and Olivia Mehaffey.
The 20-year-old also has a fair amount of self-belief and inner steel about her. When she won the Irish Women’s title in 2019 she came from two down with two to play to beat Lisburn’s Paula Grant on the first play-off hole.
Her resolve and that of the entire team will be tested this week on the Conwy links but while GB&I will start as underdogs, home advantage could be an important leveller.
“That’s the way it seems to go in team events,” she added.
“Home advantage is very beneficial. We had a couple of early group sessions at Conwy and I like the course, it’s a great test.
“Finding fairways will be essential. It’s going to be something of a mental challenge and you have to be in the right mindset to play it.”
