2026 National Ladies Strokeplay stats by John Manning
Glenda Hoey is the first member of Lucan to win the National Ladies Strokeplay championship since Marie Ruddy triumphed at Guinness in 1982.
Glenda joins Geraldine Ward, Chrissie Sheedy and Margaret Hogan as players to win the Leinster Ladies Strokeplay and National Strokeplay championships in the same season.
Glenda is the first player (since third place was officially awarded in 1987) to advance from an intermediate championship bronze medal (which Glenda secured in 2014 at Fermoy) to win the championship in the senior grade.
In her best performance in the event to date, Amy Galvin finished second in the National Ladies Strokeplay championship for the 1st time.
Amy is the sixth National Girls Strokeplay champion in history (following Tracey McGrath Redmond, Marian Byrne Courtney, Marian Marks, Martha O’Brien and Barbara Furlong) to later finish second in the All-Ireland Ladies Strokeplay championship.
Chrissie Sheedy collected her 3rd bronze medal in the National Strokeplay championship and her first such award since 2009.
Eleanor Walsh filled fourth place just as the Fermoy lady did in the Cunnigar championship of 2010.
A Leinster player lifted the trophy for the seventh successive year.
The winning senior aggregate was 10 strokes higher than Geraldine Ward's 2010 successful three-round tally of 147 at Cunnigar. By contrast the successful intermediate tally this year proved eight strokes better than the corresponding 2010 tally of 174. The junior winning totals were remarkably similar, 188 in 2026 and 187 sixteen years ago.
157 is the highest successful senior 54-hole aggregate since 1968 at Ierne when Teresa McGuigan scored 168 to win.
Ciara Lowe is the first Deerpark and Co. Kerry winner of the intermediate championship since Margaret Looney topped the 1998 leaderboard at Irish Ropes (now Ryston) in 1998.
Ciara won the Munster Intermediate Strokeplay and National Intermediate Strokeplay championships in the same year – the 3rd player in history (after Michelle McCarthy and Mary Murray) to do so.
Ciara achieved her superb win forty years after her father Con O’Sullivan was a member of Kerry’s 1986 National Inter-County winning side.
Ashlene McKevitt narrowly failed to add the 2026 National Intermediate Strokeplay championship to the 2024 National Junior Strokeplay crown she claimed at Stackallen two years ago.
Ashlene did maintain a run of Cloghogue second places in the various categories of the National Ladies Strokeplay championships, following Bronagh Crilly’s and Karen McVerry’s junior second places in 2025 and 2024 respectively.
Ashlene is the seventh player ever to win the National Junior Ladies Strokeplay championship and later finish as intermediate runner-up. The others were Margaret Forde, Ailish Sexton, Mary Quinn, Mary Fullam, Donna Cockwell and Marie O’Sullivan.
2003 National Junior Strokeplay champion Nicola Ahern is the second Collins player (after Phil Downey in 2003) to achieve a third place finish in the National Intermediate Strokeplay championship (since third place was officially awarded in 1987).
Nicola is the eighth National Junior Strokeplay champion in history to progress to a third place finish in the Intermediate championship. Helen Grimes, Margaret Hennessy, Phil Downey, Margaret Forde, Mairead Manning, Ailish Sexton and Bridget Shelley were the others.
Linda Griffin is the first Bishopstown player to join the newly-enlarged podium in the National Ladies Intermediate Strokeplay championship.
Michelle O'Connell and Marie Forde delivered a 1-2 Junior finish for the host club Cunnigar, just as Mary O’Neill and Corinne McGee did in 2010.
Cloghogue (2024), Collins (1984) and Crosshaven (2005) have also delivered 1-2 finishes in the National Ladies Junior Strokeplay championship.
Michelle is the eleventh player ever to claim the National Ladies Junior Strokeplay crown over her home course.
Marie Forde is the fifth player in history to be runner-up to a clubmate in the National Ladies Junior Strokeplay, following Corinne McGee, Karen McVerry, Catriona Aherne and Teresa O’Rourke.
Eileen Hanley is the first member of The Ranges club to fill third place in the National Ladies Junior Strokeplay championship. Eileen’s clubmate Patricia Murphy was third at intermediate level in 2004 at St. Bridget’s.
Darlene Parr adds a fourth place finish at the National Ladies Junior Strokeplay championship to her Leinster Strokeplay and Matchplay victories and a National Over-55 junior grade Strokeplay championship silver medal.
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