Portmarnock Golf Club is to host the distinguished 121st Women’s Amateur Championship from 24-29 June 2024.
The event marks the second occasion that Portmarnock has been chosen to host this championship, with the first taking place back in 1931.
In more recent years the Men’s Amateur Championship was hosted by the Dublin links, where Irishman James Sugrue claimed a thrilling victory in 2019, and Golf Ireland is anticipating another exciting event.
“Portmarnock has a rich history of hosting world-class championship golf. We are eagerly anticipating the return of the Women’s Amateur to an iconic links. This event is a testament to the high regard in which our courses are held worldwide,” said Golf Ireland CEO Mark Kennelly.
This announcement underscores Golf Ireland’s strategic priority of attracting more high-profile events to the island, specifically focusing on promoting women’s golf.
In line with this, the KPMG Women’s Irish Open is set to make a welcome return to Dromoland again this year, further cementing Ireland’s status as a leading destination for premier golf tournaments.
“The commitment we have to promoting world-class women’s golf is unwavering and the Women’s Amateur Championship is a fantastic addition,” said Kennelly.
“Portmarnock is a venue steeped in history and golfing tradition and is ready to write another chapter in its illustrious story with the Women’s Amateur in 2024.”
The event was to have been staged at Royal Birkdale in England but that course has brought forward work which has made it unavailable.
Portmarnock has courted the R&A who control this tournament as well as the AIG Women’s Open and the Open Championship.
It only became eligible to be considered again in 2021 after voting to end an anachronistic and chauvinist ban on Women becoming full members of the club.
There will inevitably now be dreams of hosting the Open Championship, returning to Northern Ireland in 2025 though that is still some way off. It has never been staged outside of the United Kingdom, though the staging in Portrush in 2019 was seen as such a success that Irish venues are firmly in the global spotlight.
Adare Manor will stage the Ryder Cup in 2027.
Access to Portmarnock is a major challenge but if the Open was to become a possibility, money would doubtless be found to fix that particular issue.
For now this is a big win in its own right, impossible to believe only a few short years ago when resistance to opening up to Women was still strong.
A sign of progress, without a doubt.
