Girls Amateur Championship

Girls Amateur Championship

Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	1919
Course(s)	Fulford Golf Club (2021)
Organized by	The R&A
Format	Stroke play followed by match play
Current champion

The Girls Amateur Championship is a golf tournament held annually in the United Kingdom. Girls need to be under 18 on 1 January in the year of the championship.

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. After World War II it restarted in 1949 when the Ladies Golf Union took over the event. It is now run by The R&A, following the merger with the Ladies Golf Union in 2017.^[1]

Format[]

Currently the championship involves two rounds of stroke-play after which the 64 lowest scores compete in six rounds of match-play. Ties for 64th place are decided by countback. 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 was organised by Mabel Stringer, the 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 , from Ashford Manor, who beat , 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 in 1924.^[5] The 1926 championship was won by another French girl, , who beat in the final. Ramsden had beaten Esmond's sister, Sybil in the semi-final.^[6] became the first two-time winner, winning in 1927 and 1928 while won three times in a row, 1930, 1931 and 1932. Doran had beaten in the final in both 1930 and 1931 and beat 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. became the youngest winner when she won the 1934 championship at the age of 13, beating , nearly five years older, in the final.^[9] There was a French winner again in 1937, Lally Vagliano beating the defending champion, , in the final.^[10] The 1939 championship was planned for September but was cancelled because of the start of World War II. The first England–Scotland match was held in 1935, on the Monday before the start of the championship. Scotland won by 5 matches to 2.^[11]

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 , from Belgium, by one hole.^[12] The first post-war overseas winner was Brigitte Varangot from France who won at North Berwick in 1957, beating the defending champion in the final.^[13] Varangot reached the final the following year at Cotswold Hills but lost to in the final.^[14] It was not until 1969 that there was another overseas winner, , from the Netherlands, beating the Belgian 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[]

Year	Venue	Champion	Score	Runner-up
2021	Fulford		2 up
2020	Southport and Ainsdale	Cancelled[15]
2019	Panmure	Pia Babnik	4 & 3	Isabella Holpfer
2018		Emma Spitz	2 & 1	Isabella Holpfer
2017		Lily May Humphreys	7 & 5
2016		Emilie Alba Paltrinieri	4 & 3
2015			2 & 1
2014			2 & 1
2013	Fairhaven		1 up
2012		Georgia Hall	6 & 5
2011			1 up	Céline Boutier
2010	Royal Belfast		7 & 6
2009		Perrine Delacour	2 up
2008		Laura Gonzalez Escallon	2 & 1	Kelly Tidy
2007	Southerndown		4 & 3	Kelly Tidy
2006	Portstewart	Belén Mozo	3 & 1
2005		Anna Nordqvist	2 & 1	Azahara Muñoz
2004		Azahara Muñoz	4 & 2	Valentine Derrey
2003	Newport	Marianne Skarpnord	2 & 1	Beatriz Recari
2002		Abandoned because of rain
2001			1 up	Carmen Alonso
2000			1 up
1999		Suzann Pettersen	3 & 1	Miriam Nagl
1998	Holyhead		4 & 3	Miriam Nagl
1997			2 & 1	Miriam Nagl
1996		Marine Monnet	4 & 3
1995			3 & 2
1994	Gog Magog		1 up	Rebecca Hudson
1993		Mhairi McKay	4 & 3
1992		Mhairi McKay	2 & 1
1991		Maria Hjorth	3 & 2	Janice Moodie
1990		Silvia Cavalleri	5 & 4
1989			19 holes
1988			3 & 2
1987		Helen Dobson	19 holes	Stefania Croce
1986		Stefania Croce	2 & 1
1985			3 & 1
1984			1 up
1983		Evelyn Orley	7 & 6
1982			6 & 5
1981		Jane Connachan	20 holes	Penny Grice
1980		Jane Connachan	2 up
1979			19 holes
1978		Marie-Laure de Lorenzi	2 & 1
1977			2 & 1
1976		Gillian Stewart	5 & 4
1975			4 & 3
1974			1 up
1973		Anne Marie Palli	2 & 1
1972			2 & 1
1971	North Berwick		4 & 3
1970			2 & 1	Mickey Walker
1969	Ilkley		2 & 1
1968			4 & 3
1967			2 & 1
1966			20 holes
1965			3 & 2
1964			2 & 1
1963			2 & 1
1962			2 & 1
1961	Beaconsfield		3 & 2
1960	Kilmarnock (Barassie)		2 & 1
1959			1 up
1958			2 & 1	Brigitte Varangot
1957	North Berwick	Brigitte Varangot	3 & 2
1956	Seaton Carew		5 & 4
1955	Beaconsfield		5 & 4
1954			20 holes
1953	Woodhall Spa		3 & 2
1952	Stoke Poges		7 & 6
1951			19 holes
1950	Formby		5 & 4
1949	Beaconsfield	Pam Davies	1 up
1939–1948: Not played
1938	Stoke Poges		4 & 3
1937	Stoke Poges	Lally Vagliano	5 & 4
1936	Stoke Poges		3 & 2	Jacqueline Gordon
1935	Stoke Poges		1 up
1934	Stoke Poges		3 & 1
1933	Stoke Poges	Jessie Anderson	5 & 3
1932	Stoke Poges		19 holes
1931	Stoke Poges		2 & 1
1930	Stoke Poges		19 holes
1929	Stoke Poges	Nan Baird	4 & 3
1928	Stoke Poges		3 & 2
1927	Stoke Poges		7 & 6
1926	Stoke Poges		6 & 5
1925	Stoke Poges	Enid Wilson	5 & 3
1924	Stoke Poges	Simone de la Chaume	4 & 2
1923	Stoke Poges		3 & 2
1922	Stoke Poges		4 & 3	Barbara Griffiths
1921	Stoke Poges		5 & 3
1920	Stoke Poges		21 holes
1919	Stoke Poges		1 up

Source:^[16]

Future venues[]

• 2022 Carnoustie Golf Links^[17]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website