The Women’s Amateur: champions across generations

The story behind the championship

The Women's Amateur Championship begins in 1893, more than eight decades before the first Women's Open. Its history therefore needs to stand on its own. It is an account of women competing for a major amateur title across changing generations, not simply an introduction to today's professional tour. Some champions later became professional stars; others made their greatest contribution while remaining amateurs. Both kinds of career shaped the competition.

The championship's hosts give that history a geographical life. Royal Lytham & St Annes, Littlestone, Royal Portrush, Troon, St Andrews, Royal County Down, North Berwick and many other courses appear in the record. A visitor can connect those venues through the champions list, then use the course histories and practical guides to decide which places fit a trip today.

The Ladies' Golf Union and the first championship

The Ladies' Golf Union founded the championship in 1893, with the first edition played at Lytham & St Annes. Lady Margaret Scott won, and then won again in 1894 and 1895. The sequence established a prominent early champion at the same time as the new organisation was creating a national competitive structure for women's golf.

That origin should not be confused with the later professional Women's Open, which developed from a different stroke-play championship. The distinction is especially helpful when an old source uses a title containing British, ladies, open and amateur in a different order. Similar wording does not make the competitions identical. The year, organiser and format are the safest ways to establish which championship a historical account means. USGA historical introduction; official complete winners' roll.

Lady Margaret Scott and the earliest venues

Scott's three titles came at Lytham & St Annes, Littlestone and Royal Portrush. That opening sequence immediately took the championship beyond a single club. It also offers a compact route for anyone interested in the beginnings of women's championship golf, connecting England's north-west, the Kent coast and the north coast of Ireland.

The early final margins are an example of why the table carries source notes. The organiser's archive and an independent retrospective record do not agree on every score. The official entries are retained and the differences identified, rather than presenting an uncertain historical number as universally accepted. Scott's identity as the winner is not in doubt; the disagreement concerns details within the recorded results. Keeping those distinctions visible gives readers a more dependable history than smoothing all sources into an apparently perfect consensus. Official roll; independent archive.

Hezlet, Adair and the turn of the century

May Hezlet won three championships, in 1899, 1902 and 1907. Rhona Adair won in 1900 and 1903. Their appearances in the early roll give Irish golf a substantial place in the championship's first decades, while also connecting the competition with courses outside Ireland. A player's nationality and a venue's location describe different parts of the same result.

The table also preserves the style of names used in the official archive, which often lists initials and titles. That can make old records less immediately familiar than modern leaderboards. A helpful history connects documented identities without casually assigning a full name to every initial. Course names need similar care: an older name may refer to a venue now known differently, but a modern label should clarify the place rather than conceal the historical wording. R&A archive; independent complete results.

Cecil Leitch and Joyce Wethered

Leitch and Wethered each won the championship four times. Leitch's titles came in 1914, 1920, 1921 and 1926; Wethered's followed in 1922, 1924, 1925 and 1929. Their records frame an important part of the inter-war championship, and the final of 1921 brought them together at Turnberry, with Leitch the winner.

These achievements are sometimes introduced through extravagant praise attributed to famous golfers. The results are powerful enough without an unattributed quotation. The championship record establishes the victories, the venues and their meetings as opponents. For a visitor, that supplies a tangible way into the period: Turnberry, Troon and St Andrews are settings for women's championship history as well as for the more frequently retold men's stories. The four-title records also distinguish Leitch and Wethered from Scott's three consecutive victories; they are different kinds of sustained success. R&A retrospective; independent historical exhibition.

The gaps around the World Wars

The championship was not held from 1915 to 1918 because of the First World War, and from 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War. The planned 1919 return at Burnham & Berrow was cancelled because of a railway strike, a separate interruption. Each missing year belongs in the record with its own explanation. Leitch’s victories in 1914 and 1920 bracket the first long gap.

The championship resumed after the Second World War at Hunstanton in 1946. The official roll records Mrs G. W. Hetherington as winner, followed by Babe Zaharias at Gullane in 1947 and Louise Suggs at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1948. The return should be understood as a series of actual championships with their own winners, not simply as the point at which a chronological table starts again. It re-established a competition whose earlier history had already stretched across several generations. Official organiser archive; independent calendar-year list; 1919 cancellation background.

A wider championship between the wars

Simone Thion de la Chaume won at Royal County Down in 1927, followed by another French winner in 1928. Enid Wilson then won three in succession, at Portmarnock, Saunton and Gleneagles from 1931 to 1933. Pam Barton won in 1936 and 1939, while Helen Holm also appears twice in the decade's list of champions.

The sequence broadens the story beyond a simple succession of Leitch and Wethered. It also shows the value of reading the full roll rather than only a selection of celebrated profiles. Several winners can shape a period, and the courses carry different parts of their achievements. A trip through the championship's inter-war history might therefore include Irish links, English coastal golf and a Scottish inland resort, rather than assuming every important edition took place beside the same stretch of sea. Official record.

Belle Robertson and a long amateur career

Belle Robertson won in 1981 at Caernarvonshire, now generally identified with Conwy in modern tournament records. At 45, she became the oldest Women's Amateur Champion. That age record offers a useful counterweight to the familiar description of amateur golf as a competition only for teenagers about to turn professional.

Her victory also illustrates why historical and modern place names should be connected explicitly. A reader searching for the championship venue needs to find the right course, while the archive's original wording remains part of the evidence. The result itself required extra holes, recorded by the organiser as a win at the 20th. An account can explain the present-day name and the match-play result without replacing either with an unsupported modern shorthand. R&A's Robertson retrospective; independent venue record.

Matthew's two Lytham chapters

Catriona Matthew won the championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1993, when she competed as Catriona Lambert. Sixteen years later, she won the Women's Open at the same course and became the first Scottish woman to win a major. The name difference is therefore a connection to explain, not evidence of two separate champions.

Lytham offers visitors an unusually clear pairing of amateur and professional achievements by the same player. The years should remain separate: one is an amateur match-play championship, the other a professional stroke-play major. Together they tell a longer story than either result alone. The venue guide helps place those championships on the ground; the Women's Open history explains the later tournament's status and development. Official Matthew profile.

Swedish champions and Nordqvist's breakthrough

Louise Stahle won in 2004 and 2005, at Gullane and Littlestone. Anna Nordqvist was then runner-up in 2006 and 2007 before winning at North Berwick in 2008, beating Caroline Hedwall. The succession gives the championship a distinct Swedish chapter rather than a single isolated success.

Nordqvist later won the Women's PGA Championship, Evian Championship and Women's Open. Her earlier near misses are worth retaining because the winning year alone can hide how a player's relationship with an event developed. Reaching two finals before winning is a specific competitive history, not a story that needs imagined thoughts or conversations. For a golf traveller, North Berwick connects that amateur breakthrough with the later major venues elsewhere in this site's guides. R&A's official career retrospective; official championship roll.

Hall, Boutier and Maguire

Georgia Hall won at Machynys Peninsula in 2013, Céline Boutier at Portstewart in 2015 and Leona Maguire at Pyle & Kenfig in 2017. Each result gives a different part of Britain or Ireland a place in the career of a player later familiar to professional-golf spectators. The wins also show why the championship should not be described as belonging to one narrow geographical circuit.

Hall later won the Women's Open, Boutier the Evian Championship, and Maguire became an LPGA winner and Solheim Cup player. Their amateur victories remain meaningful without being reduced to a forecast of those later achievements. A reader can follow the links between championships while recognising the event as a substantial title in its own right. The current record also distinguishes the winners from the many talented finalists whose careers followed other paths. Official retrospective; Maguire's contemporary result.

Duncan and Baker

Louise Duncan won at Kilmarnock (Barassie) in 2021 with a 9&8 final victory over Jóhanna Lea Lúðvíksdóttir. The R&A described it as the championship's largest winning margin. Duncan then made a notable Women's Open debut at Carnoustie that summer, connecting an amateur title with an opportunity to compete on a major stage.

Jess Baker followed as champion at Hunstanton in 2022, beating Louise Rydqvist 4&3 in the 36-hole final. The two results illustrate different margins within the same match-play format. A large win does not give a champion more titles than a narrow one, but it can establish a separate record worth explaining. The score belongs alongside the names and venue, rather than being translated into an aggregate stroke-play total. Official Duncan report; official Baker report.

Green's Portmarnock victory

Melanie Green won at Portmarnock in 2024, defeating Lorna McClymont by two holes. The club's timeline records that Green recovered from four down after eight holes and from one down with three to play. Those points explain the match more accurately than simply calling the result a comfortable two-hole victory.

The R&A's following-year preview identifies Green as the first American winner since Kelli Kuehne in 1996. That long interval gives the result a national context, while the match itself remains the central sporting achievement. Portmarnock's own record also connects the latest championship with its earlier role as a host. The course is a place where different generations of this competition meet, rather than a new setting with no relationship to the older roll. Official final account; host club's timeline.

Martín Sampedro, Delon and the current chapter

Paula Martín Sampedro won at Nairn in 2025, defeating Farah O'Keefe 2&1 in the 36-hole final. The R&A identified her as the sixth Spanish champion. Her victory also earned places in major championships, making the practical consequences of the title visible alongside its historical prestige.

Valentine Delon won at Muirfield in 2026, beating Andrea Revuelta 3&1. The official record names her as the first French winner since Boutier in 2015. Royal Cinque Ports is listed as the 2027 host, adding a Kent destination to the next chapter. That future championship has a venue and scheduled dates, but no champion yet: the completed winners' table must stop at the latest played edition. Official 2025 final report; official 2026 report; current championship information.

Connect the story with a visit

Use the champions table to choose the historical connection that interests you, then open the corresponding course and venue guides. The Women's Open and Evian hubs provide routes into professional championships involving several former amateur winners. Choose accommodation around the trip you are actually making, and confirm present access with the host. A course's place in this history is a reason to learn more about it; current arrangements determine how you can experience it.

Every champion and year not held

Notes on the championship results

1. 2002: The R&A gives 3&2; Where2Golf gives 5 & 4. The organiser’s result is used.
2. 1998: The R&A gives 4&3; Where2Golf gives 3 & 2. The organiser’s result is used.
3. 1994: The R&A gives 2&1; Where2Golf gives 3 & 1. The organiser’s result is used.
4. 1960: The R&A gives 4&3; Where2Golf gives 4 & 2. The organiser’s result is used.
5. 1952: The R&A gives 38th; Where2Golf gives 39th hole. The organiser’s result is used.
6. 1936: The R&A gives 7&5; Where2Golf gives 5 & 3. The organiser’s result is used.
7. 1923: The R&A gives 1 hole; Where2Golf gives 2 holes. The organiser’s result is used.
8. 1913: The R&A gives 7&6; Where2Golf gives 8 & 6. The organiser’s result is used.
9. 1907: The R&A gives 1 hole; Where2Golf gives 2 & 1. The organiser’s result is used.
10. 1902: The R&A gives 20th; Where2Golf gives 19th hole. The organiser’s result is used.
11. 1901: The R&A gives 3&2; Where2Golf gives 3 & 1. The organiser’s result is used.
12. 1898: The R&A gives 6&5; Where2Golf gives 7 & 5. The organiser’s result is used.
13. 1897: The R&A gives 4&3; Where2Golf gives 4 & 2. The organiser’s result is used.
14. 1895: The R&A gives 6&5; Where2Golf gives 5 & 4. The organiser’s result is used.
15. 1893: The R&A gives 7&6; Where2Golf gives 7 & 5. The organiser’s result is used.

Historical course names follow The R&A archive. Where a championship used a second course for stroke-play qualifying, the venue entry preserves that fuller arrangement.

Runner-up name differences: The table follows the R&A roll. The independent history uses different forms in these years:

• 1896: R&A — Miss L Thompson; Where2Golf — Lena Thomson.
• 1898: R&A — Miss E C Nevile; Where2Golf — Elinor C Neville.
• 1900: R&A — Miss M Nevile; Where2Golf — Isabel Neville.
• 1902: R&A — Miss E C Nevile; Where2Golf — Elinor C Neville.
• 1905: R&A — Miss M E Stuart; Where2Golf — Maud E Stewart.
• 1949: R&A — Mrs V Reddar; Where2Golf — Valerie Reddan.
• 1956: R&A — Miss M P Jansson; Where2Golf — Mary Patton Janssen.
• 1986: R&A — Mrs L Briers; Where2Golf — Louise Bryers.

Sources and useful official links

• Confirmed: USGA historical introduction
• Confirmed: official championship roll
• Reported: independent venue record
• Confirmed: Official retrospective
• Confirmed: independent historical exhibition
• Reported: 1919 cancellation background
• Confirmed: Official Matthew profile
• Confirmed: Maguire's contemporary result
• Confirmed: Official Duncan report
• Confirmed: official Baker report
• Confirmed: Official final account
• Confirmed: host club's timeline
• Confirmed: Official 2025 final report
• Confirmed: official 2026 report
• Confirmed: current championship information
• Confirmed: Championship winners
• Reported: Championship winners

Useful reading for your visit

• The Women’s Amateur Championship 2027 in Deal
• Where to stay for the AIG Women’s Open at Sandwich
• Golf history, where it happened

Visit today

• Royal Cinque Ports visitor guide
• The Women’s Amateur Championship 2027 in Deal
• Where to stay for the AIG Women’s Open at Sandwich

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