Tons of Great Britain and Ireland players set for Women's Amateur Championship
A large number of players from Great Britain and Ireland are gearing up for the 120th Women's Amateur Championship.
An impressive group of players from Great Britain and Ireland are set to play at Prince’s Golf Club for the 120th Women’s Amateur Championship this year.
They'll look to follow in the footsteps of England’s Jess Baker, who won in 2022, and Scotland’s Louise Duncan, who won the year prior.
The total number of players set to play in Kent 13-18 June is 144 from 232 entries. Twenty-eight of those players are from Great Britain and Ireland. A number of which are top contenders and rising stars.
Scotland's Lorna McClymont recently successfully defended her Irish Women's Amateur Championship title in May, just a week after she won the Welsh Women's Stroke Play as well.
Ready for @Princesgolfclub
Come along and watch the top golfers compete for the Women’s Amateur Championship trophy https://t.co/3nEoVprQE5 pic.twitter.com/vGTJVI4WPD
— The R&A (@RandA) May 30, 2023
“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, per a press release for the event on Tuesday.
McClymont, a 22-year-old sports studies student at the University of Stirling, is also excited for the exemptions that come with winning the amateur.
This year's champion will gain access into the AIG Women’s Open, US Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and will be invited to the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
“The prizes you can get from winning the Championship are amazing, it’s just incredible really to get such an opportunity,” said McClymont, who also won the the R&A’s Student Tour Series Order of Merit in both 2022 and 2023.
“I’ve been working hard on my game and it’s in a good place just now,” she said, adding:
Hannah Darling is another Scottish golfer in the field for the amateur. Darling is the highest placed GB&I player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) competing in the upcoming championship. The 19-year-old will be representing Broomieknowe Golf Club. She currently's ranked No. 11 on the standings.
Darling has played in the tournament three previous times, finishing as as semi-finalist on two occasions.
Both times Darling lost to the player that would go on to win. First it was Duncan in 2021 and Baker last year.
The countdown to @PrincesGolfClub is on ⏰⛳️
We can’t wait to touchdown in Kent for The Women’s Amateur Championship next month
Tickets here https://t.co/7nPubfw8Yg pic.twitter.com/SU9nel6Eip
— The R&A (@RandA) May 21, 2023
At 13, Darling became the youngest ever winner of the Scottish Girls’ Championship. She's also a past winner of the R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship and has played for GB&I in the Curtis Cup twice.
Bristol's Caley McGinty of Knowle Golf Club will also come into the Women’s Amateur at Prince’s after representing the International team in the Arnold Palmer Cup in early June. The 22-year-old junior at Ohio State University won this year’s South America Women’s Amateur. She also won her sixth title with the Westbrook Invitational.
England's Annabell Fuller is making her seventh appearance in the Women’s Amateur Championship at just 20-years-old. The University of Florida senior is a former quarter-finalist in the championship and is a three-time Curtis Cup player.
Ireland’s Anna Foster, another player ranked inside the top-100 on the WAGR, will be making her third Women’s Amateur appearance. The Dublin product is a past winner of the Irish Women’s Close Championship and represented Ireland in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in France last year.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Baker will be looking to become the first player since Louise Stahl (2004, 2005) to win back-to back Women’s Amateur titles.
Baker won in Norfolk last year, defeating Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist by 4&3 in the final.
As last year’s winner, Baker was able to compete in the 2022 AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield and played in France's Amundi Evian Championship, as well as Canada's CP Women’s Open.
Additionally, she played in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Chevron Championship in 2023. She's also set to play in the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in July.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” she said, adding:
Previous winners of the championship, which was founded in 1893, includes McCormack Medal winner Leona Maguire and major champions Georgia Hall and Anna Nordqvist.
The tournament starts with stroke play on Tuesday and Wednesday over a total of 36 holes. After that, 64 players and ties will move on to the match play portion of the tournament held from Thursday to Sunday.
The full field for The Women’s Amateur Championship can also be viewed here.
