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The Women's Amateur
Nairn set to welcome stellar field for The Women's Amateur
06 Jun 25
Long Read
The Women’s Amateur Championship returns to Nairn in the Scottish Highlands for the first time in 46 years next week (10- 15 June), with an exciting field suggesting the rare American victory by Melanie Green last year may not prove to be an anomaly.
Green’s two-hole triumph over Lorna McClymont at Portmarnock in 2024 marked the first in the Championship by a player from the United States of America since Kelli Kuehne’s victory at Royal Liverpool in 1996. Her win may have served as inspiration for a host of compatriots. Green has since turned professional and already has two top-ten finishes on the Epson Tour, but a string of top American amateurs are scheduled to head to the Moray Coast in an effort to follow in her footsteps. Indeed, three members of the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) top ten – Catherine Park, Jasmine Koo and Farah O’Keefe – are set to tee it up at Nairn, which last hosted The Women’s Amateur back in 1979 when Maureen Madill prevailed for Northern Ireland. In total, seven of the world’s top 20 will be at Nairn and 14 of the top 50.
Farah O'Keefe at The Women's Amateur Championship in 2024.
Curtis Cup focus
That American trio will therefore understandably be highly-fancied. However, there is significant depth to this year’s field, one which should deliver a competition worthy of the spectacular coastal surroundings and produce plenty of compelling storylines, with a renewal of acquaintances for several members of last year’s Curtis Cup teams likely to be among the most interesting to follow. Great Britain and Ireland prevailed at Sunningdale last year in the closest Curtis Cup for 12 years, their 10½ - 9½ winning margin matching that of 2012, when they defeated the United States of America by the same score at Nairn. Beth Coulter, Hannah Darling and Patience Rhodes – who delivered a crucial victory in the Sunday singles – will all be at Nairn from the victorious GB&I team. On the American side, Park and Koo are joined by Curtis Cup team-mates Anna Davis and Asterisk Talley, and it is the latter who looms as a threat to write a remarkable story having already authored several in her fledgling career. At the tender age of 16, Talley has quickly compiled the kind of CV that would be the envy of many amateur players.Talley a teen star
An astonishing 2024 saw Talley emerge as the next teenage sensation in American women’s golf. After prevailing alongside Sarah Lim in the US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, Talley was runner-up in both the US Girls Junior and US Women’s Amateur. She then shared low amateur honours with Park and Megan Schofill at the US Women’s Open, before further underlining her substantial promise in the Curtis Cup. Talley lost just one of her matches across the foursomes and four-balls and provided hope of an American comeback by beating world number one Lottie Woad 3&2 in the singles.
Asterisk Talley at the Curtis Cup in 2024.
Nairn’s picturesque links will provide a different challenge for the teenager, but the composure and creativity Talley displayed in finishing a stroke behind winner Carla Bernat Escuder at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur makes her a significant threat to contend for the title and an exemption into leading women’s events next year.
Talley will likely be a potent force in amateur golf for as long as she stays at this level. However, Scotland’s main hope of a home champion will not be an amateur for much longer.
Darling returns
A two-time semi-finalist at The Women’s Amateur, former Girls’ Amateur champion Darling is poised to head to the paid ranks at some point following her bid for glory at Nairn, which would be an ideal way to sign off before she attempts to earn her LPGA card through the qualifying series. Seizing her last chance to win The Women’s Amateur would certainly send Darling into the professional arena with positive momentum. However, in addition to the sizeable and talented American contingent, there are several other European hopes who will be confident of mounting a serious challenge. Rhodes has impressed on the collegiate circuit at Arizona State this year, posting five top-ten finishes, while the highest-ranked European in the field is Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro. Sampedro is 13th in the WAGR® and only missed the cut at the US Women’s Open by a stroke, matching Talley in posting a score of two-over-par for the first 36 holes. That highly respectable performance at Erin Hills will likely give Sampedro belief she can become the first Spaniard to win The Women’s Amateur since Azahara Munoz in 2009. Sampedro also impressed last year, progressing through two rounds of match play before losing 6&5 to eventual champion Green.
Paula Martin Sampedro at The Women's Amateur Championship in 2024.