Meet the 2022 Curtis Cup Captains

Elaine Ratcliffe, of England, returns as captain of the Great Britain and Ireland side following a 12.5-7.5 defeat at Conwy Golf Club in Wales last August. Ratcliffe enjoyed a decorated amateur career that included victories in the 1997 Finish Women's Amateur and 1998 English Women's Amateur. Ratcliffe was a member of the victorious 1996 Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup Team that defeated the USA 11.5-6.5 at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club in the Republic of Ireland. Ratcliffe posted a 1-0-1 mark in singles (she did not play in either foursomes session), defeating current USA Curtis Cup captain Sarah Ingram, 3 and 1, on Sunday. She tied her Saturday match with Marla Jemsek. Ratcliffe also played on the victorious 1997 Vagliano Trophy Team that defeated Continental Europe by one point at Royal Aberdeen in Scotland. 

She also represented Great Britain and Ireland in the 1996 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, where the side finished tied for fourth in the Philippines. She also represented England in the European Amateur Team Championships.

Ratcliffe turned professional and was named the Ladies European Tour's Rookie of the Year in 1999, but regained her amateur status in 2008. She has since captained England in a number of international matches, including the Ladies Home Internationals and European Amateur Team Championships. She also has twice led a Europe team against Asia-Pacific in the Patsy Hankins Trophy.

Sarah LeBrun Ingram returns as the USA captain after her side rallied over the final two days at Conwy Golf Club in Wales to produce a 12.5-7.5 victory. She is a three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who also has represented the USA in three Curtis Cups. The Nashville, Tenn., resident won her first Women's Mid-Amateur title in 1991, defeating Martha Lang, 6 and 5, at Desert Highlands Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. She followed that up with titles in 1993 and 1994. Only Meghan Stasi and Ellen Port have won more Women's Mid-Amateur titles (four apiece).

Ingram also was the runner-up to Jill McGill in the 1993 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif., falling 1 down in the 36-hole final.

 
Those performances led to selection to the 1992, 1994 and 1996 Curtis Cup Teams. The USA went 0-2-1 in those competitions, losing 10-8 in 1992 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, and 11.5-6.5 in 1996 at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club in the Republic of Ireland. The team played to a 9-9 tie in 1994 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., with GB&I retaining the Cup. Ingram owns a 2-1 mark in singles with her lone defeat coming to current GB&I captain Elaine Ratcliffe in 1996, 3 and 1. She also beat Julie Hall that year, 4 and 2.

Ingram was a two-time All-American and four-year letter winner at Duke University from 1985-88 and is a member of the Duke University Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. She twice represented the USA in the Women's World Amateur Team Championships, helping the side to victory in 1994 in France. 

Outside of her Women's Mid-Amateur victories, Ingram won the 1986 and 1987 Maryland State Women's Amateurs, the 1990 Canadian Women's Amateur, the 1991 Women's Western Amateur and Tennessee State Amateur, the 1992 Broadmoor Women's Invitational and 1993 Women's Southern Amateur. She also was the low amateur in the 1995 U.S. Women's Open at The Broadmoor.

In 2018, Ingram served as the general chairman of the U.S. Women's Amateur at The Golf Club of Tennessee, her home club. She also qualified for the 2019 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, advancing to the Round of 16. She also advanced to match play in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, falling in the Round of 32.