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 from 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.
Lorna McClymont of Scotland will head into the Championship in a confident mood after successfully defending her Irish Women’s Amateur Championship title this 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, the 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, it’s just incredible really to get such an opportunity,” she added.
McClymont has won The R&A’s Student Tour Series Order of Merit in both 2022 and 2023 and 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,” she said, ahead of coming into the Championship from playing in the Arnold Palmer Cup. “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® (WAGR®) to be competing at Prince’s. The 19-year-old, representing Broomieknowe Golf Club, currently sits at 11th 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 at the beginning of June. 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 quarter-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 after defeating Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist by 4&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 will also compete in the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” she said of the last year. “I’ve tried to take it in my stride and enjoy the moment. It’s a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity so I try to make the most of it.”
The Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the leading championships in amateur golf for female golfers. The Championship, founded in 1893, attracts an international field with an impressive list of former winners including McCormack Medal winner Leona Maguire and major champions Georgia Hall and Anna Nordqvist.
The field will take part in the stroke play stage on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th June, playing 36 holes. From there, 64 players and ties will advance to the match play stage from Thursday 15th to Sunday 18th June.
Prince’s played host to The Open in 1932, won by Gene Sarazen. The club has welcomed Final Qualifying for The Open from 2018 to 2022, while the course also co-hosted The Amateur Championship in 2013 and 2017. Prince’s boasts 27 holes of links golf organised in three loops – Shore, Dunes and Himalayas.
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 young people 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 are also available for 16-24-year-olds.