Following victories by Scotland’s Louise Duncan in 2021 and England’s Jess Baker in 2022, an impressive contingent of players from Great Britain and Ireland will tee it up at Prince’s Golf Club to contest the 120th Women’s Amateur Championship on 13-18 June.
In a field of 144 players – from a record 232 entries – who will start the stroke-play section of the championship in Kent, there are no fewer than 28 entrants from GB&I, including a number of top contenders for the title as well as a selection of rising stars and more experienced competitors.
Scotland’s Lorna McClymont will head into the championship in a confident mood after successfully defending her Irish Women’s Amateur Championship title last month, the week after winning the Welsh Women’s Stroke Play.
“Yes, I’ve played well the last few weeks (in Wales and Ireland) so I’m looking forward to seeing what else might just happen,” she said.
The 22-year-old, a sports studies student at the University of Stirling, is excited at the prospect of the incredible exemptions available for the winner at Prince’s. The victor gains entry to the AIG Women’s Open, US Women’s Open, Amundi Evian Championship and, by tradition, will earn an invitation to compete at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
“The prizes you can get from winning the championship are amazing,” she said. “It’s just incredible really to get such an opportunity.”
McClymont, who won the R&A’s Student Tour Series Order of Merit in 2022 and 2023, knows the importance of staying patient in significant championships.
“I’ve been working hard on my game, and it’s in a good place just now,” said McClymont, who will play in the Arnold Palmer Cup ahead of the Women’s Amateur. “My attitude is good right now, too. I have to play smart at Prince’s and stay in the moment. I can’t wait for it to come ’round.”
Another Scot, Hannah Darling, is the highest-placed GB&I player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking to be competing at Prince’s. The 19-year-old, representing Broomieknowe Golf Club, sits at 10th on the standings.
Darling will be making her fourth appearance and she has twice been a semi-finalist, both times losing out to the eventual winner: Duncan at Kilmarnock (Barassie) in 2021 and Baker last year at Hunstanton.
The youngest-ever winner of the Scottish Girls’ Championship, a feat she achieved aged just 13, Darling is a past winner of the R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship and has twice played for GB&I in the Curtis Cup.
Caley McGinty of Knowle Golf Club in Bristol will also come into the Women’s Amateur at Prince’s on the back of representing the International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup in Pennsylvania. Aged 22 and a junior at Ohio State University, McGinty won this year’s South America Women’s Amateur as well as picking up a sixth collegiate title in the Westbrook Invitational.
Annabell Fuller of England is making a remarkable seventh appearance in the Women’s Amateur Championship, despite being just 20 years old. A senior at the University of Florida, she’s a former finalist in the championship and is a three-time Curtis Cup player.
Ireland’s Anna Foster makes her third Women’s Amateur appearance. Ranked in the top 100 on WAGR, the Dubliner is a past winner of the Irish Women’s Close Championship and, last year, represented Ireland in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in France.
Baker, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, will be looking to become the first player since Louise Stahl in 2004 and 2005 to win back-to back Women’s Amateur titles.
Baker took the title in Norfolk last year by defeating Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist, 4 and 3, in a thrilling final. As last year’s winner, Baker competed in the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield and also played in the Amundi Evian Championship in France and CP Women’s Open in Canada in 2022, as well as the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Chevron Championship in 2023. She also will compete in the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July.
Spectators are welcome to attend the Women’s Amateur Championship, with tickets available to purchase at www.randa.org. Adult tickets are available from £10, with a four-day ticket just £25.
To encourage children and youngsters to attend the Women’s Amateur Championship, the R&A will continue the successful “Kids go Free” programme, which provides children under 16 years old free entry to the championship when accompanied by a paying adult. Half-price youth tickets also are available for 16-24-year-olds.
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