For the first time, the match-play stages of the R&A Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur will be played simultaneously at one venue when they are held over the famed links of Carnoustie.
In another notable first, the 36-hole finals of both championships on Sunday will be live-streamed by the R&A at the renowned venue for the Open Championship and AIG Women’s Open.
The Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championship, proudly supported by EventScotland, will include stroke-play qualifying in the Boys’ Amateur at Panmure and Monifieth before the knock-out stages move to Carnoustie, with the Girls’ Amateur contested at Carnoustie all week.
The finals can be watched on the R&A’s website at www.randa.org as well as on the R&A’s YouTube channel. The commentary team will feature Simon Holmes, Beth Allen and Sophie Walker along with onsite presenter George Harper Jr.
“We are looking forward to hosting the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur championships together for the first time next week,” said Phil Anderton, the R&A’s chief development officer. “With the match-play stages of both championships being staged at Carnoustie, it promises to be a wonderful week for the world’s leading girls’ and boys’ players to illustrate their talents. We are committed to showcasing inclusivity in golf and growing all levels of the sport.
“We are also looking forward to the live stream of both finals on the R&A digital channels as we look to take golf to new younger audiences and raise the profile of these championships.”
It will be the 95th staging of the Boys’ Amateur, after England’s Jack Bigham won last year at Royal Cinque Ports. In total, 252 players representing 22 countries will compete over two rounds of stroke-play qualifying, with the top 64 progressing to match play.
R&A Junior Open champion Connor Graham is among the Scottish hopefuls, as well as the new Scottish Men’s Amateur champion, 16-year-old Oliver Mukherjee, and last year’s beaten semifinalist Niall Shiels Donegan. Five of the recently announced Continent of Europe team to contest the forthcoming Jacques Leglise Trophy also will compete: Thijmen Batens (Netherlands), Marco Florioli (Italy), Tom Haberer (Germany), Jorge Siyuan Hao (Spain) and William Wistrand (Sweden).
The Girls’ Amateur, staged at an Open venue for the first time, is being held for the 93rd occasion after Scotland’s Hannah Darling triumphed at Fulford last year. From a field of 144 players representing 22 countries, the top 64 players will qualify for the match-play stages.
Impressively for under-18 level, seven players from the top 100 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field, including top-ranked Meja Ortengren (21) from Sweden, Italian Francesca Fiorellini (39) and Spain’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio (48). Scotland’s Grace Crawford, the R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur winner, and England’s Lottie Woad, the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters victor, also will tee up.
EventScotland Support
“EventScotland is delighted to be supporting the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championships through our National Events Programme, and we look forward to an exciting week of golf in Angus,” said Paul Bush, VisitScotland’s director of events.
“This is the first time we have supported these events, with the funding supporting the digital innovation of the live stream to showcase up-and-coming golfing talent and extend the audience reach internationally.
“The R&A Boys and Girls Amateur Championships are part of an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events taking place across the country this year that are giving audiences the chance to once again connect and enjoy the buzz of live events.”
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