History
Up to 1958 the women's internationals were played in connection with The Women's Amateur Championship. The first international match was played between England and Ireland in 1895 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the day after the Women's Amateur Championship. There were 6 ladies in each team, England taking all the matches and winning by 34 holes to 0. [1] The two countries played again in 1899 at Newcastle County Down. There were 9 ladies in each team, England scored in 6 of the 9 matches, winning by 37 holes to 18. [2] A further match between the two countries was played at Aberdovey in 1901, played for the first time before the Women's Amateur Championship. The result was decided by matches rather than holes, Ireland winning 5–2. [3] A Scottish team competed at Deal in 1902 but was not representative. On the first day, England beat Ireland and Ireland beat Scotland. [4] The following day England beat Scotland 8–0 with two matches halved. [5] In 1903 at Royal Portrush there were too few Scottish players to make a team and the only international was one between Ireland and England, Ireland winning 9–1. [6] In the 1904 internationals England beat Scotland 5–4, Ireland beat England 6–3 and Scotland beat Ireland 7–2, one match being halved in each contest. The first two matches were played at Royal Troon, the third at Prestwick. [7] [8] [9]
1905 saw the introduction of the Miller International Shield, donated by Thomas Horrocks Miller and presented to the winning team. [10] [11] [12] Matches were reduced to teams of seven, with the contest played over two days. Extra holes were played to ensure a result. Scotland won both their matches, 4–3, on the first day to win the contest. [13] England beat Ireland on the following day. [14] Scotland repeated their success in 1906, again winning both of their matches, 4–3, on the first day. [15] England again beat Ireland to finish runners-up. [16]
In 1907, at Newcastle County Down, Wales joined the competition and all four home nations competed for the first time. [17] Ireland won both their matches on the first day and then beat Scotland on the following day to win the Miller Shield. England were runners-up with Scotland third. [18] Teams were increased to nine in 1908. England and Scotland won both their matches on the first day and then Scotland beat England 6–3 to win the trophy. [19] Scotland won again in 1909, at Birkdale, and in 1910, at Westward Ho!, each time losing only 4 of their 27 individual matches, with England runners-up both times. [20] [21]
Wales were unable to raise a team in 1911 at Royal Portrush. Scotland and England both beat Ireland on the opening day and England managed a narrow 5–4 win over Scotland on the second day, winning one of the matches on the 19th hole. [22] England retained the trophy at Turnberry in 1912, winning all their matches, Ireland finishing runners-up. [23] In 1913 the event was extended to three days. England retain the shield, winning all three matches, including a close 5–4 win over Scotland on the second day. Scotland were runners-up. [24] [25] The 1914 event at Hunstanton returned to the previous two-day format. England beat Ireland and Scotland on the first day and retained the title with a 9–0 win over Wales. Scotland were runners-up after beating Ireland 5–4. [26]
After World War I, a Women's Amateur Championship was planned for October 1919 at Burnham and Berrow. The championship was eventually cancelled because of a rail strike, but a decision had earlier been made not to hold any international matches. [27] Scotland and Wales did not enter teams in 1920, at Newcastle County Down, being unable to enter a representative team. England met Ireland in the only match, winning 9–0. [28] All four nations competed again from 1921. [29] England dominated the tournament from 1921 to 1925, winning all 15 of their matches. [30] [31] The 1922 event was notable for Wales' first win, when they beat Ireland 5–4. [32] Scotland were runners-up each year from 1921 to 1925, except in 1924 when they were beaten by Ireland. [33]
The 1926 home internationals and the Women's Amateur Championship were postponed due to the general strike in May. The Women's Amateur Championship was rearranged in June but the internationals were not played. In 1927, England suffered their first defeat since 1910 when they were beaten 5–4 by Scotland. The match between Gertrude Percy and Dorothy Fowler went to extra holes before Percy won at the 20th hole to give Scotland the victory. [34] England regained the shield in 1928, and retained it in 1929 and 1930 without losing a match. In 1928, Wales had their second win, again beating Ireland 5–4, as they had in 1922. [35] The 1929 event was played on the Old Course at St. Andrew. Matches were played on Thursday and Friday rather than Friday and Saturday as had generally been the case in earlier years. [36] Scotland were runners-up in 1928, 1929 and 1930. [37]
Scotland regained the shield in 1931 at Portmarnock with a 6–3 win over England. [38] England regained the title in 1932 with Ireland finishing runners-up after beating Scotland. Matches were played on Wednesday and Thursday, with 36-hole qualifying for the Women's Amateur Championship taking place on the Friday and Saturday. [39] England retained the title in 1933 with Scotland second and Wales third, after a 5–4 win over Ireland. [40] 1934, at Royal Porthcawl, was the first time the result was decided on individual matches won. In all previous events, one team had won all their matches. On the first day Wales beat Ireland 6–3 and then beat Scotland 5–4, their first ever win over Scotland. Scotland had earlier beaten England 5–4. [41] On the final day England beat Wales 8–1, while Scotland beat Ireland 7–2, so that England, Scotland and Wales each had two wins. England won the title with 19 individual match wins, with Scotland second with 16 and Wales third with 12. [42]
In 1935 at Royal County Down, Scotland regained the trophy, as they had done in 1927 and 1931, when it had previously been held in Ireland. Ireland beat England 5–4, their first win over England since 1907, to finish runners-up, with England finishing in third place for the first time. [43] England won in 1936 with the other three nations all winning one match. Scotland were runners-up with 11 individual match wins, ahead of Ireland with 10 and Wales with 9. [44] The 1937 matches at Turnberry were scheduled for the Friday and Saturday. However they were cancelled, after the first day, following the death of Bridget Newell in Turnberry Hotel. Newell had been due to play in the matches. [45] Scotland won the shield in 1938 at Burnham & Berrow, beat England 6–3, their first title in England since 1910. [46] Scotland beat England again in 1939 at Royal Portrush, this time 7–2. [47] They retained the title, with Ireland runners-up after they beat England 5–4. [48]
The Women's Amateur Championship was revived in 1946 and played at Hunstanton in early October. [49] However no international matches were played, the first post-war matches being at Gullane in 1947. [50] Scotland retained the title with a 7–2 win over England. [51] England won the title in 1948 for the first time since 1936, beating Scotland 5–4, and retained the title in 1949, beating Scotland again by the same score. [52] [53] Scotland won the title in 1950, beating England 6–3 at Royal County Down. [54] Matches were played on Thursday and Friday from 1951. Scotland retained the shield in 1951 and 1952, beating England 9–0 in 1951 and 6–3 in 1952. Ireland were runners-up in 1952 after beating England 6–3. [55] [56] England had a narrow 5–4 victory over Scotland in 1953 to win the title, and retained it in 1954 after beating Scotland 7½–1½. [57] [58] The playing of extra holes to ensure a result was dropped from 1954 and 1955 saw the first ever tied match with England and Scotland level at 4½–4½. [59] With the two teams winning their other two matches, the result was decided. for only the second time, on individual match wins, Scotland winning with 19½ to England's 17½. [60]
Unusually, the 1956 internationals at Sunningdale were played on the Monday and Tuesday after the Women's Amateur Championship. [61] Scotland beat England 5–4 and retained the title, with England runners-up, despite a 4½–4½ draw with Ireland. England had 17 individual match wins to Ireland 12½. [62] Teams were reduced from 9 to 7 in 1957. [63] Scotland retained the title with a 4–3 win over England. [64] In 1958 at Hunstanton, England won the title for the first time since 1954, with Ireland second after a 4–3 win over Scotland. [65]
From 1959 the home internationals were, for the first time, played as a separate event. [66] There were three foursomes and six singles, the event being extended to three days. In 1959 extra holes were played to get a result in each match, but from 1960 this was dropped, matches level after 18 holes being halved. England won all their matches in 1959 and 1960, with Scotland runners-up both years. [67] [68] The situation was reversed in 1961 and 1962 with England winning all their matches with Scotland runners-up. [69] [70] In 1964 Wales tied their match with Ireland 4½–4½, Wales having lost all their previous matches since beating Ireland in 1936. Wales took third place with 9 individual wins to Ireland's 8½, the first time they had not finished in last place since 1934. [71] In 1966, Wales and Ireland again tied their match. Ireland took third place with more individual wins. [72] 1967 saw the first tie in the event. England and Scotland drew their opening match 4½–4½ on the first day and won their remaining two matches. [73] Both teams had 19 individual wins, England retaining the trophy as reigning champions. [74] Ireland and Wales also drew their opening match 4½–4½, but Wales lost 8–1 against both England and Scotland and again finished in last place. [74] The following year England and Scotland again drew their match 4½–4½, but England retained the shield with 14½ individual wins to Scotland's 13½. [75]
In 1969 the title was again decided on individual wins. England beat Scotland 5½–3½ on the first day but lost 5–4 to Ireland on the second day, leaving England and Scotland with two wins each. Scotland had 19 individual wins to England's 18, to win the title outright for the first time since 1962. Ireland drew their match against Wales and finished in third place. [76] England regained the title at Killarney in 1970 with three wins, including an 8½–½ defeat of Scotland. Ireland beat Scotland 5½–3½ to finish second. [77] England were undefeated from 1970 to 1974, Scotland being runners-up in 1971, 1972 and 1973. [78] [79] [80] In 1973 Wales won their first match since 1936, beating Ireland 5–4. [81] They also tied their match against Scotland and finished in third place. [80] In 1974, Ireland beat England 5–4 on the final day, resulting in only the second three-way tie in the history of the event. Scotland won with 18 individual points, ahead of England with Ireland third. [82] In 1975, Wales beat Ireland 7–2, their biggest-ever win, and although they lost their other two matches, they finished runners-up for the first time, behind England. [83] Wales were runners-up again in 1976 when they tied all three of their matches. England took the title with Scotland finishing last for the first time. [84] England retained the title in 1977 and 1978, winning all their matches. [85] [86]
Ireland, who hadn't won the title since 1907, won their first two matches in 1979 but then lost to Wales on the final day. Scotland beat 7–2 on the last day and took the title on individual points. England finished in fourth place for the first time. [87] Ireland did win the title in 1980 with three wins. England only got half-a-point, but finished ahead of Wales on individual points. [88]
England 
