Opening Golf to the World
Coronation Foursomes
Second time lucky for Irish winners at Coronation Foursomes
21 Sep 26
5 mins
The Irish pairing of Lynne Coote and Lorraine Abbott produced a wonderful performance to win the 2026 Coronation Foursomes Grand Final in St Andrews.
On a special day at the home of golf, the pair from Loughgall Golf Club triumphed in the popular championship for women and girls’ golfers across Great Britain and Ireland – by scoring 45 stableford points. Coote, who has been playing golf since 2001 and Abbott, golfing since 2006, combined well to record the brilliant points tally playing off their 32 Handicap Index over the Eden Course for a four-point victory among the 16 competing pairs. “I can’t believe we won, I thought we had made too many mistakes to win, it’s very exciting,” said Abbott. Coote added, “It’s always smashing to come to the home of golf, especially since we come from a municipal course and this is the ultimate municipal course. It’s just so magical to play in St Andrews.” For their victory the pair will be treated to a VIP experience at the 2027 AIG Women’s Open which includes a five-day ticket, Sunday hospitality invite, a nights accommodation, a £150 Peter Millar voucher each and their travel expenses covered. “It will be lovely to see how real golfers play,” said Abbott.
Lynne Coote and Lorraine Abbott are the 2026 Coronations Foursomes champions.
Coote, who cheered on Europe at the Solheim Cup added, “Oh St George’s next year – I just can’t wait to get back to watching all the top women golfers.
“I was at the Solheim Cup last weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. I really enjoyed the guts of Carlotta Ciganda in her win over Nelly Korda, I can’t wait to see them in action again.”
The unique team competition format of the Coronation Foursomes sees club qualifying and Area Finals each year ahead of a Grand Final. This is the second time the winning duo have made it all the way to the Grand Final having also qualified in 2022.
Abbott added, “This is our second time being Finalists and I think that experience helped a lot. It helped settle the nerves and we knew our way around the course, although the weather is different every time you’re here.”
The experienced partnership credited their excellent oncourse communication as being key to their success.
“We have played together in foursomes and greensomes for a few years and we gel well as a partnership,” added Coote.
“Talking to each other, and supporting each other over every shot from the first to the last putt. We discussed the wind direction, how much more or less club we might need. It was a very nice way to play.”
Maureen Anderson and Angela Innes from Keith Golf Club finished in second place on an impressive 41 points with Helen Dowling and Danielle Lang from Lutterworth taking third sport on 39 points.
The 32 finalists in St Andrews also enjoyed a two-night stay at the prestigious Old Course Hotel Golf Resort & Spa and a drinks reception at The R&A World Golf Museum.