# English Women's Amateur Championship

The English Women's Amateur Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of England. It was first played in 1912 and is currently organised by England Golf.
The English Women's Amateur Championship is contested through two phases. It begins with a 36-hole stroke play competition, with the leading 32 competitors progressing to the knock-out match play competition. All matches in the knock-out phase are played over 18 holes except the final, which is played over 36 holes.
It is a close event, entry being restricted to women born in England, or with one parent or grandparent born in England, or resident in England for five years (two years if under 18).
Joyce Wethered has been the most successful player, winning the event five times in succession from 1920 to 1924.

## History

The event was initially organised by the National County Golf Alliance, an organisation formed in 1911, separate from the Ladies Golf Union, with the intention of running county and national events.The first English Ladies Championship was held at Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich in April 1912. 32 players qualified for the match-play stage, after an 18-hole stroke-play round. The final was over 18 holes and was won by Margaret Gardner who beat Beryl Cautley at the 20th hole. Gardner had been 5 up with 5 holes to play, but lost them all and the match went to extra holes. The second event was held in April 1913 at Notts Golf Club and was won by Winifred Brown by one hole, the final being extended to 36 holes.
In 1914, the Ladies Golf Union wanted to organise their own English Ladies Championship and a dispute arose with the National County Golf Alliance, leading to possibility of there being two competing events. However, the Alliance was disbanded in early 1914 and the Ladies Golf Union organised the event at Walton Heath Golf Club in June. The event continued to be restricted to English golfers, using the same format as in 1913. Cecil Leitch beat Gladys Bastin 2&1 in the final.
The Ladies Golf Union continued to run the event until the English Women's Golf Association was founded in 1952. The English Women's Golf Association merged with the English Golf Union in 2011. The English Golf Union was later renamed England Golf.
From 2012 to 2018 the event was run as a 72-hole stroke-play event. It returned to match-play in 2019 with an 18-hole final. Since 2020 the event has been played concurrently with the men's event. From 2020 the final has been played over 36 holes, although the 2023 final was reduced to 18 holes by bad weather.

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
| 2024 | Katie Stephens | 2 up | Shivani Karthikeyan | Seaton Carew |
| 2023 | Ellen Yates | 20 holes | Rebecca Earl | Ferndown |
| 2022 | Abbie Teasdale | 1 up | Davina Xanh | Lindrick |
| 2021 | Kirsten Rudgeley | 37 holes | Isobel Wardle | Moortown |
| 2020 | Emily Price | 4 & 3 | Lily May Humphreys | Woodhall Spa |
| 2019 | Ellen Hume | 19 holes | Lily May Humphreys | Saunton |
| Year | Winner | Score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Venue |
| 2018 | Georgina Blackman | 280 | 1 stroke | Annabell Fuller Sophie Lamb | Wilmslow |
| 2017 | Lily May Humphreys | 289 | 2 strokes | Emma Allen India Clyburn | Lindrick |
| 2016 | Samantha Giles | 295 | 1 stroke | Elizabeth Prior | West Lancs |
| 2015 | Bronte Law | 275 | 16 strokes | Rochelle Morris Elizabeth Prior | Hunstanton |
| 2014 | Bronte Law | 291 | 3 strokes | Inci Mehmet | St Enodoc |
| 2013 | Sarah-Jane Boyd | 290 | 2 strokes | Alexandra Peters | King's Norton |
| 2012 | Kelly Tidy | 304 | Playoff | Georgia Hall | Royal Birkdale |
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
| 2011 | Lucy Williams | 19 holes | Charley Hull | West Sussex |
| 2010 | Hayley Davis | 2 & 1 | Tara Watters | Broadstone |
| 2009 | Charlie Douglass | 3 & 2 | Tara Watters | Lindrick |
| 2008 | Hannah Barwood | 2 & 1 | Florentyna Parker | Ganton |
| 2007 | Naomi Edwards | 2 & 1 | Melissa Reid | Littlestone |
| 2006 | Kiran Matharu | 5 & 4 | Naomi Edwards | West Lancashire |
| 2005 | Felicity Johnson | 20 holes | Sophie Walker | Burnham & Berrow |
| 2004 | Kerry Smith | 4 & 3 | Shelley McKevitt | Northamptonshire County |
| 2003 | Emma Duggleby | 2 & 1 | Naomi Edwards | Aldeburgh |
| 2002 | Kerry Knowles | 6 & 5 | Chloe Court | Littlestone |
| 2001 | Rebecca Hudson | 20 holes | Emma Duggleby | West Sussex |
| 2000 | Emma Duggleby | 4 & 3 | Rebecca Hudson | Hunstanton |
| 1999 | Fiona Brown | 2 & 1 | Kerry Smith | Ganton |
| 1998 | Elaine Ratcliffe | 19 holes | Liza Walters | Walton Heath |
| 1997 | Kim Rostron | 4 & 2 | Kate Burton | Saunton |
| 1996 | Joanne Hockley | 4 & 3 | Lisa Educate | Silloth-on-Solway |
| 1995 | Julie Hall | 2 & 1 | Elaine Ratcliffe | Ipswich |
| 1994 | Julie Hall | 1 up | Suzanne Sharpe | The Berkshire |
| 1993 | Nicola Buxton | 2 & 1 | Sarah Burnell | St. Enodoc |
| 1992 | Caroline Hall | 1 up | Joanne Hockley | St. Annes Old Links |
| 1991 | Nicola Buxton | 2 up | Karen Stupples | Sheringham |
| 1990 | Angela Uzielli | 2 & 1 | Linzi Fletcher | Rye |
| 1989 | Helen Dobson | 4 & 3 | Simone Morgan | Burnham & Berrow |
| 1988 | Julie Wade | 19 holes | Susan Shapcott | Little Aston |
| 1987 | Joanne Furby | 4 & 3 | Maria King | Alwoodley |
| 1986 | Jill Thornhill | 3 & 1 | Susan Shapcott | Prince's |
| 1985 | Trish Johnson | 1 up | Linda Bayman | Ferndown |
| 1984 | Claire Waite | 3 & 2 | Linda Bayman | Hunstanton |
| 1983 | Linda Bayman | 4 & 3 | Christine Mackintosh | Hayling |
| 1982 | Julie Walter | 4 & 3 | Christine Nelson | Brancepeth Castle |
| 1981 | Diane Christison | 2 up | Sandy Cohen | Cotswold Hills |
| 1980 | Beverley New | 3 & 2 | Julie Walter | Aldeburgh |
| 1979 | Julia Greenhalgh | 2 & 1 | Sue Hedges | Royal Liverpool |
| 1978 | Vanessa Marvin | 2 & 1 | Ruth Porter | West Sussex |
| 1977 | Vanessa Marvin | 1 up | Mary Everard | Burnham & Berrow |
| 1976 | Lynne Harrold | 4 & 2 | Angela Uzielli | Notts |
| 1975 | Beverly Huke | 2 & 1 | Lynne Harrold | Royal Birkdale |
| 1974 | Ann Irvin | 1 up | Jill Thornhill | Sunningdale |
| 1973 | Michelle Walker | 6 & 5 | Carol Le Feuvre | Broadstone |
| 1972 | Mary Everard | 2 & 1 | Angela Bonallack | Woodhall Spa |
| 1971 | Dinah Oxley | 5 & 4 | Sally Barber | Royal Liverpool |
| 1970 | Dinah Oxley | 3 & 2 | Sally Barber | Rye |
| 1969 | Barbara Dixon | 6 & 4 | Margaret Wenyon | Burnham & Berrow |
| 1968 | Sally Barber | 5 & 4 | Dinah Oxley | Hunstanton |
| 1967 | Ann Irvin | 3 & 2 | Margaret Pickard | Alwoodley |
| 1966 | Julia Greenhalgh | 3 & 1 | Jean Holmes | Hayling |
| 1965 | Ruth Porter | 6 & 5 | Gillian Cheetham | Whittington Barracks |
| 1964 | Marley Spearman | 6 & 5 | Mary Everard | Royal Lytham & St. Annes |
| 1963 | Angela Bonallack | 7 & 6 | Liz Chadwick | Liphook |
| 1962 | Jean Roberts | 3 & 1 | Angela Bonallack | Woodhall Spa |
| 1961 | Ruth Porter | 2 up | Peggy Reece | Littlestone |
| 1960 | Margaret Nichol | 3 & 1 | Angela Bonallack | Burnham & Berrow |
| 1959 | Ruth Porter | 5 & 4 | Frances Smith | Aldeburgh |
| 1958 | Angela Bonallack | 3 & 2 | Bridget Jackson | Formby |
| 1957 | Jeanne Bisgood | 10 & 8 | Margaret Nichol | Queen's Park |
| 1956 | Bridget Jackson | 2 & 1 | Ruth Ferguson | Hunstanton |
| 1955 | Frances Smith | 4 & 3 | Elizabeth Price | Moortown |
| 1954 | Frances Stephens | 37 holes | Elizabeth Price | Woodhall Spa |
| 1953 | Jeanne Bisgood | 6 & 5 | Jean McIntyre | Prince's |
| 1952 | Pam Davies | 6 & 5 | Jacqueline Gordon | Royal North Devon |
| 1951 | Jeanne Bisgood | 2 & 1 | Gabrielle Keiller | St Annes Old Links |
| 1950 | Joan Gee | 8 & 6 | Pam Davies | Sheringham |
| 1949 | Diana Critchley | 3 & 2 | Katharine Cairns | Burnham & Berrow |
| 1948 | Frances Stephens | 1 up | Zara Bolton | Hayling |
| 1947 | Mollie Wallis | 3 & 1 | Elizabeth Price | Ganton |
| 1939–1946: Not played due to World War II ||||||
| 1938 | Elsie Corlett | 2 & 1 | Joy Winn | Aldeburgh |
| 1937 | Wanda Morgan | 4 & 2 | Madeleine Fyshe | St Enodoc |
| 1936 | Wanda Morgan | 2 & 1 | Phyllis Wade | Hayling |
| 1935 | Marjorie Ross Garon | 38 holes | Elsie Corlett | Royal Lytham & St. Annes |
| 1934 | Phyllis Wade | 4 & 3 | Mary Johnson | Seacroft |
| 1933 | Dorothy Pearson | 5 & 3 | Mary Johnson | Royal North Devon |
| 1932 | Diana Fishwick | 5 & 4 | Beryl Brown | Royal Ashdown Forest |
| 1931 | Wanda Morgan | 3 & 1 | Molly Gourlay | Ganton |
| 1930 | Enid Wilson | 12 & 11 | Muriel Porter | Aldeburgh |
| 1929 | Molly Gourlay | 6 & 5 | Diana Fishwick | Broadstone |
| 1928 | Enid Wilson | 9 & 8 | Dorothy Pearson | Walton Heath |
| 1927 | Edith Guedalla | 1 up | Enid Wilson | Pannal |
| 1926 | Molly Gourlay | 6 & 4 | Elsie Corlett | Woodhall Spa |
| 1925 | Dorothy Fowler | 9 & 7 | Joy Winn | Royal North Devon |
| 1924 | Joyce Wethered | 8 & 7 | Dorothy Fowler | Cooden Beach |
| 1923 | Joyce Wethered | 8 & 7 | Vera Lodge | Ganton |
| 1922 | Joyce Wethered | 7 & 6 | Joan Stocker | Hunstanton |
| 1921 | Joyce Wethered | 12 & 11 | Marjorie Mudford | Lytham & St. Annes |
| 1920 | Joyce Wethered | 2 & 1 | Cecil Leitch | Sheringham |
| 1919 | Cecil Leitch | 10 & 8 | Gladys Dobell | St Annes Old Links |
| 1915–1918: Not played due to World War I ||||||
| 1914 | Cecil Leitch | 2 & 1 | Gladys Bastin | Walton Heath |
| 1913 | Winifred Brown | 1 up | Winifred McNair | Notts |
| 1912 | Margaret Gardner | 20 holes | Beryl Cautley | Prince's |
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