Top field bids to take home Garvey and Reddan Trophy
SEVENTY-FOUR elite golfers will tee it up in the Irish Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship at County Louth this week.
While last year’s winner Maria Dunne has retired, there will be no shortage of talent on display with GB&I Curtis Cup players Paula Grant (Lisburn), Sophie Lamb (England) and Shannon McWilliam (Scotland) the hot favourites for an event which began its five-year tenure at Baltray last year.
Kirkistown Castle’s Under 14 British Girls’ Champion Beth Coulter, up and coming star Lauren Walsh from Castlewarden and 2017 European Universities Champion Shannon Burke from Ballinrobe will also be teeing it up.
There is a strong entry from Continental Europe with the Netherlands’ Romy Meekers, Italy’s Alessia Nobilio and Austria’s Isabella Holpfer just three of the big names set to take part.
Grant and Meekers will get the action underway at 8 am tomorrow with Lambe, Nobilio and Clandeboye’s Jessica Ross in the second group of the day.
The field will be competing for the crystal “Clarrie Reddan and Philomena Garvey Trophy”, created to mark their huge contribution to the game here.
Clarrie Reddan (nee Tiernan) was born in 1916 and boasted a career that included nine international appearances between 1935 and 1955, an Irish Ladies Close title, two Curtis Cup appearances and a runner-up at the British Ladies’ Amateur Championship in 1949.
Philomena Garvey, 10 years Clarrie’s junior, was British Ladies’ Amateur Champion in 1957 and Irish Ladies Close champion 15 times.
She was selected on every GB&I Curtis Cup from 1948 to 1960, famously withdrawing from the 1958 team when the LGU decided to change the traditional international emblem of the rose, thistle, shamrock and leek to the Union Jack. At a press conference on June 28, 1958, Garvey confirmed her intentions by stating: “It would have been disloyal to my country were I to accept and wear such an emblem.”
In her letter to the LGU, she pointed out that “I do not mean any slight or offence to Great Britain.” On receiving Phil’s letter, LGU President Molly Gourlay said: “The council has considered this and decided there is no reason to change their decision.” Explaining her stance later, Philomena said: “I am an Irish woman and we have a flag here of our own. It would look strange if I wore a flag that was not the flag of my own country.”