Who are the Scots bidding for Women's Amateur glory in Ireland

A strong field has assembled at Portmarnock for the 121st Women’s Amateur Championship - the event’s second staging at the Irish venue but first since 1931.

The R&A was initially due to be played at Royal Birkdale before being switched to Portmarnock due to course development work being planned at the Southport venue ahead of The Open being staged there in 2026.

Four players in the top ten of the World Amateur Golf Ranking and 21 in the top 50 are teeing it up at Portmarnock, where two rounds of stroke-play qualifying take place on Monday and Tuesday.

Broomieknowe's Hannah Darling tees off at the seventh hole in the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club. Picture: ANWA

The title hopefuls are headed by new world No 1 Lottie Woad, the English player who created history as the first European to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this year.

Louise Duncan, who did the trick at Kilmarnock (Barassie) in 2021, was the last Scot to claim the prestigious title and here are the Scots who are bidding to emulate her this week.

Hannah Darling

The world No 30 is bidding to complete the full set of R&A amateur titles after winning the inaugural Girls’ Under-16 title in 2018 then adding the Girls’ Championship two years later. The Broomieknowe player reached the semi-finals in the event won by Duncan and is back home to try and improve on that effort after another eye-catching campaign on the US college circuit, which included a first individual win for the South Carolina star.

Milngavie's Lorna McClymont pictured during the Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Championship at Troon Portland earlier in the year. Picture: Christophr Young/Scottish Golf

Carmen Griffiths

The Aboyne player won the 2023 Scottish Women’s Championship and, though missing out on defending that title, she recorded a top-ten finish in the St Rule Trophy in her first outing back on home soil after producing some consistent golf on the US college circuit in her junior year at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Jasmine Mackintosh

The Murcar Links member showed what she was capable of when winning last year’s Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open at Royal Troon, emulating the likes of Catriona Matthew, Mel Reid and Leona Maguire. Earlier this year, she was also the leading qualifier in the Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship and will be looking for a similar solid stroke-play performance on this occasion.

Aboyne's Carmen Griffiths, pictured celebrating her win in the 2023 Scottish Women's Championship, has a good junior year at the University of Louisville. Picture: Scottish Golf

Evie McCallum

The Dunfermline player, who won last year’s Scottish Girls’ Championship at Cardrona, where she bear Australian Sheridan Clancy in the final, handed herself a timely confidence boost with a recent title triumph, this one coming in The Foundations Trophy at Blairgowrie, where she finished ten shots clear of the field and also hit a hole in one.

Lorna McClymont

The Milngavie member has won numerous events over the past couple of years but adding the Scottish Women’s title to her CV was a massive confidence boost for what is arguably her biggest assignment of the year, with the winner gaining spots in both the AIG Women’s Open and The Amundi Evian Championship this summer, as well as next year’s US Women’s Open.

Freya Russell

Playing her golf at Royal Troon will have been good preparation for this test as she bids to build on a second-placed finish in the Junior Tour Scotland season-opener at Brora and Royal Dornoch and also reaching the final of the Scottish Women’s Championship at Nairn Dunbar. More recently, she finished fourth in the Barrie Douglas Scottish Junior Masters at Strathmore.

Jennifer Saxton

A clubmate of McCallum’s, her finest moment to date was landing the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews in 2022, when she overcame running up a triple-bogey 7 in the final round to make it three tartan triumphs in a row in that event after victories for Hazel MacGarvie and the aforementioned Darling in 2019 and 2021 respectively.