Girls Amateur Championship

The Girls Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. The championship is organised and run by The R&A[1]

Girls Amateur Championship
Tournament information
LocationUnited Kingdom
Established1919
Course(s)2019 – Panmure Golf Club
Organized byThe R&A
FormatStroke play followed by match play
Current champion
Pia Babnik

Until World War II the championship was organised by a series of magazines and always held at Stoke Poges Golf Club near Slough. it was first held in 1919, although an event was planned in 1914 but was cancelled because of the start of World War I. It restarted in 1949 when the Ladies Golf Union took over the event and has been held annually since then.

Format

Currently the championship involves two rounds of stroke-play after which the 64 lowest scores compete in six rounds of match-play. All match-play rounds are over 18 holes with extra holes played, if necessary, to decide the winner. Girls need to be under 18 on 1 January in the year of the championship.

History

The first attempt to run the event was in 1914, when The Gentlewoman magazine organised an event, for which Princess Mary, then 17, presented a trophy. The event was to have been played on 17 and 18 September at Stoke Poges Golf Club but was cancelled because of the start of World War I.[2]

The 1919 event, again organised by Mabel Stringer who was now sports editor of The Gentlewoman.[2] It was played on 17 and 18 September at Stoke Poges. 16 girls competed, having qualified through local events. Two rounds were played each day. The first winner of the Princess Mary trophy was Audrey Croft, from Ashford Manor, who beat Christina Clarke, from Reddish Vale, by 1 hole in the final.[3] The two finalists in 1919 met again in 1920, Miss Clarke winning this time at the 21st hole.[4] The first overseas winner was Simone de la Chaume from France, who beat Dorothy Pearson in 1924.[5] The 1926 championship was won by another French girl, Diana Esmond, who beat Margaret Ramsden in the final. Ramsden had beaten Esmond's sister, Sybil in the semi-final.[6] Diana Fishwick became the first two-time winner, winning in 1927 and 1928 while Pauline Doran won three times in a row, 1930, 1931 and 1932. Doran had beaten Dorrit Wilkins in the final in both 1930 and 1931 and beat Aline de Gunzbourg from France, in 1932.[7][8]

1932 was the first year that The Bystander magazine organised the event. The Gentlewoman magazine had merged with Eve: The Lady's Pictorial, later to become Britannia and Eve, and the event had been known as the Eve's Girls Championship since 1927. Nancy Jupp became the youngest winner when she won the 1934 championship at the age of 13, beating Joan Montford, nearly five years older, in the final.[9] There was a French winner again in 1937, Lally Vagliano beating the defending champion, Peggy Edwards, in the final.[10] The 1939 championship was planned for September but was cancelled because of the start of World War II.

The event was not restarted after the war until the Ladies Golf Union took over the organisation of the event in 1949. Played at Beaconsfield Golf Club, the tournament was won by Pam Davies, a Coventry medical student, who beat Arlette Jacquet, from Belgium, by one hole.[11] The first post-war overseas winner was Brigitte Varangot from France who won at North Berwick in 1957, beating the defending champion Ruth Porter in the final.[12] Varangot reached the final the following year at Cotswold Hills but lost to Tessa Ross-Steen in the final.[13] It was not until 1969 that there was another overseas winner, Joyce de Witt Puyt, from the Netherlands, beating the Belgian Corinne Reybroeck in the final. Reybroeck had also been runner-up in 1968. Since 1969 the number of overseas winners has increased, outnumbering British winners, although two Scots, Jane Connachan and Mhairi McKay are the only girls since the war to win the championship twice. The event is now run by The R&A, following the merger with the LGU in 2017.

Results
YearVenueChampionScoreRunner-up
2019Panmure Pia Babnik4 & 3 Isabella Holpfer
2018Ardglass Emma Spitz2 & 1 Isabella Holpfer
2017Enville Lily May Humphreys7 & 5 Emilie Overas
2016Royal St David's Emilie Alba Paltrinieri4 & 3 Isobel Wardle
2015West Kilbride Sandra Nordaas2 & 1 Marta Perez Sanmartin
2014Massereene Alejandra Pasarin2 & 1 Chiara Mertens
2013Fairhaven Jing Yan1 up Roberta Liti
2012Tenby Georgia Hall6 & 5 Clara Baena
2011Gullane No.1 Margaux Vanmol1 up Céline Boutier
2010Royal Belfast Alexandra Bonetti7 & 6 Laura Sedda
2009West Lancashire Perrine Delacour2 up Elizabeth Mallett
2008Monifieth Links Laura Gonzalez Escallon2 & 1 Kelly Tidy
2007Southerndown Henrietta Brockway4 & 3 Kelly Tidy
2006Portstewart Belén Mozo3 & 1 Sally Watson
2005West Hill Anna Nordqvist2 & 1 Azahara Muñoz
2004Lanark Azahara Muñoz4 & 2 Valentine Derrey
2003Newport Marianne Skarpnord2 & 1 Beatriz Recari
2002SandiwayAbandoned because of rain
2001Brough Clare Queen1 up Carmen Alonso
2000Blairgowrie Tullia Calzavara1 up Rachel Bell
1999High Post Suzann Pettersen3 & 1 Miriam Nagl
1998Holyhead Maria Beautell4 & 3 Miriam Nagl
1997West Kilbride Caroline Laurens2 & 1 Miriam Nagl
1996Formby Ladies Marine Monnet4 & 3 Caroline Laurens
1995Northop County Park Anne Thevenin-Lemoine3 & 2 Jessica Krantz
1994Gog Magog Amandine Vincent1 up Rebecca Hudson
1993Helensburgh Mhairi McKay4 & 3 Amandine Vincent
1992Northamptonshire Mhairi McKay2 & 1 Sara Beautell
1991Whitchurch (Cardiff) Maria Hjorth3 & 2 Janice Moodie
1990Penrith Silvia Cavalleri5 & 4 Esther Valera
1989Carlisle Myra McKinlay19 holes Sofie Eriksson
1988Pyle & Kenfig Alison MacDonald3 & 2 Jessica Posener
1987Barnham Broom Helen Dobson19 holes Stefania Croce
1986West Kilbride Stefania Croce2 & 1 Sarah Bennett
1985Hesketh Susan Shapcott3 & 1 Elaine Farquharson
1984Llandudno (Maesdu) Carol Swallow1 up Elaine Farquharson
1983Alwoodley Evelyn Orley7 & 6 Adele Walters
1982Edzell Claire Waite6 & 5 Mary Mackie
1981Woodbridge Jane Connachan20 holes Penny Grice
1980Wrexham Jane Connachan2 up Laura Bolton
1979Edgbaston Sophie Lapaire19 holes Patricia Smillie
1978Largs Marie-Laure de Lorenzi2 & 1 Debbie Glenn
1977Formby Ladies Wilma Aitken2 & 1 Sue Bamford
1976Pyle & Kenfig Gillian Stewart5 & 4 Susan Rowlands
1975Henbury Suzanne Cadden4 & 3 Lisa Isherwood
1974Dunbar Ruth Barry1 up Tegwen Perkins
1973Northamptonshire County Anne Marie Palli2 & 1 Nathalie Jeanson
1972Royal Norwich Maureen Walker2 & 1 Suzanne Cadden
1971North Berwick Josephine Mark4 & 3 Maureen Walker
1970North Wales Carol Le Feuvre2 & 1 Mickey Walker
1969Ilkley Joyce de Witt Puyt2 & 1 Corinne Reybroeck
1968Leven Carol Wallace4 & 3 Corinne Reybroeck
1967Liphook Penny Burrows2 & 1 Jillian Hutton
1966Troon Portland Jillian Hutton20 holes Dinah Oxley
1965Formby Ladies Ann Willard3 & 2 Shirley Ward
1964Camberley Heath Pamela Tredinnick2 & 1 Kathleen Cumming
1963Gullane Dinah Oxley2 & 1 Barbara Whitehead
1962Alnmouth Susan McLaren-Smith2 & 1 Aileen Murphy
1961Beaconsfield Diane Robb3 & 2 Jean Roberts
1960Kilmarnock (Barassie) Susan Clarke2 & 1 Ann Irvin
1959Woolaton Park Sheila Vaughan1 up Julia Greenhalgh
1958Cotswold Hills Tessa Ross-Steen2 & 1 Brigitte Varangot
1957North Berwick Brigitte Varangot3 & 2 Ruth Porter
1956Seaton Carew Ruth Porter5 & 4 Annette Nicholson
1955Beaconsfield Angela Ward5 & 4 Alison Gardner
1954West Kilbride Bridget Jackson20 holes Dolores Winsor
1953Woodhall Spa Susan Hill3 & 2 Angela Ward
1952Stoke Poges Ann Phillips7 & 6 Suzanne Marbrook
1951Gullane Jane Redgate19 holes Jeanette Robertson
1950Formby Jeanette Robertson5 & 4 Ann Phillips
1949Beaconsfield Pam Davies1 up Arlette Jacquet
1939–1948: Not played
1938Stoke Poges Sheila Stroyan4 & 3 Joan Pemberton
1937Stoke Poges Lally Vagliano5 & 4 Peggy Edwards
1936Stoke Poges Peggy Edwards3 & 2 Jacqueline Gordon
1935Stoke Poges Peggy Falkner1 up Joan Pemberton
1934Stoke Poges Nancy Jupp3 & 1 Joan Montford
1933Stoke Poges Jessie Anderson5 & 3 Enid Pears
1932Stoke Poges Pauline Doran19 holes Aline de Gunzbourg
1931Stoke Poges Pauline Doran2 & 1 Dorrit Wilkins
1930Stoke Poges Pauline Doran19 holes Dorrit Wilkins
1929Stoke Poges Nan Baird4 & 3 Sylvia Bailey
1928Stoke Poges Daina Fishwick3 & 2 Marion Jolly
1927Stoke Poges Diana Fishwick7 & 6 Irene Taylor
1926Stoke Poges Diana Esmond6 & 5 Margaret Ramsden
1925Stoke Poges Enid Wilson5 & 3 Katharine Nicholls
1924Stoke Poges Simone de la Chaume4 & 2 Dorothy Pearson
1923Stoke Poges Mary Mackay3 & 2 Barbara Strohmenger
1922Stoke Poges Muriel Wickenden4 & 3 Barbara Griffiths
1921Stoke Poges Winifred Sarson5 & 3 Marjorie Parkinson
1920Stoke Poges Christina Clarke21 holes Audrey Croft
1919Stoke Poges Audrey Croft1 up Christina Clarke

Source:[14]

Future venues

References
  1. "The R&A - The Girls Amateur Championship". Retrieved 27 November 2018..
  2. "Stringer, Mabel Emily (1868–1958), golfer and journalist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63388. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  3. "The Girls Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 19 September 1919. p. 12.
  4. "The Girls Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 17 September 1920. p. 14.
  5. "Girls Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 18 September 1924. p. 13.
  6. "The Girls' Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 16 September 1926. p. 3.
  7. "The Girls' Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 12 September 1931. p. 20.
  8. "Girls' Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 17 September 1932. p. 16.
  9. "Success of Miss Nancy Jupp". The Glasgow Herald. 15 September 1934. p. 3.
  10. "Girls' Title goes to France". The Glasgow Herald. 11 September 1937. p. 3.
  11. "British Girls' Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 10 September 1949. p. 2.
  12. "British Girls' Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 14 September 1957. p. 7.
  13. "Miss Steen Girls' Champion". The Glasgow Herald. 6 September 1958. p. 8.
  14. "Past Winners The Girls Amateur Championship". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  15. "The R&A announces 2021 Amateur Championship venues". Golf Today. 6 November 2019.
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