Sunningdale memories

Sunningdale is a place where special things tend to happen.

It’s where Karen Stupples’s astonishing start set her on the path to major success. It’s where legendary amateur Bobby Jones played the perfect round before proclaiming that he wanted to “take the course home” with him. And it’s where great Champions have shone at the AIG Women's Open.

Nestled in Berkshire around 20 miles from London, the venue has earned a reputation as one of the finest in the land. It has hosted an array of elite golfing events, and between 1997 and 2008 it welcomed the AIG Women's Open four times.

After an absence of two decades, the Championship will return to the setting’s renowned Old Course for the fifth time in 2028, continuing the run of world class venues to have hosted the planet's top players.

Four of the best

Sunningdale’s history of hosting elite events stretches back decades, and its close association with the AIG Women’s Open started with Karrie Webb’s emphatic victory there in 1997.

The Australian, who remains the Championship’s joint-most successful player with three wins, finished eight strokes clear of her closest rival with a record breaking 19-under-par total of 269. Nobody has bettered it since.

Another milestone arrived when Se Ri Pak enjoyed her moment of glory four years later. 2001 represented the first year the Championship was a recognised major, and the South Korean’s sensational Sunday 66 was befitting such an occasion as she won by two over compatriot Mi Hyun Kim.

Webb’s record total was then equalled in 2004 when England’s Stupples lifted the trophy, helped by a quite astonishing start (which we will come on to shortly).

And in 2008 a 20-year-old Jiyai Shin won on the Championship’s fourth visit to Sunningdale, becoming the youngest player to lift the trophy. As she celebrated her triumph, future champion Anna Nordqvist stood alongside her as winner of the Smyth Salver for low amateur – a sign of great things ahead for the Swede.

The wait for the fifth edition at Sunningdale has spanned two decades, but come 2028 new stories will be written and new heroes created.

Magic moments

Since it was opened in September 1901, Sunningdale’s Old Course has witnessed moments which feel almost otherworldly.

Webb’s record-setting 269 in 1997 set a benchmark for brilliance, later matched by Stupples in 2004. It was here Stupples delivered one of the most electrifying starts ever seen in a final round. An eagle was followed by an albatross, and she was five-under-par through just two holes.

The magic started on the first of the two back-to-back par-5s when Stupples drained her eagle putt after an outstanding 5-iron to the green. And things were about to get even better.

With her trusty 5-iron in hand once more, and around 220 yards to the pin, she struck a perfect approach to the green and, unable to see the ball land, the roar of the crowd told Stupples all she needed to know. A joyous celebration followed.

"Ideally I wanted to go birdie-birdie but eagle-albatross was unbelievable,” she said afterwards.

"It was one of those fantastic feelings that I could enjoy the rest of the day no matter how things turned out.''

Sunningdale's Old Course has long inspired greatness, and few admired it more than legendary US amateur Bobby Jones. During qualifying for The Open in 1926, an event he would go on to win at Royal Lytham & St Annes – the setting for this year's AIG Women's Open – Jones produced rounds of 66 and 68.

That 66, hailed as a ‘perfect round,’ featured 33 shots, 33 putts, and no hole played in more than four. Approaches on ten of the holes were struck with a 2‑iron or wood.

Reflecting on the experience, Jones famously said: “I wish I could take this course home with me.”

Stupples and Jones hold their own special place in the fascinating story of this famous venue. The stage is set for another name to join them when the AIG Women's Open returns for its 52nd edition in 2028.

A course steeped in history

Designed by two-time Champion Golfer Willie Park Jnr and unveiled in 1901, the Old Course carries the imprint of a master craftsman.

Park Jnr, renowned for his touch on the greens, shaped putting surfaces that rise and fall with the land itself while its cross bunkers, ditches and heather banks pose questions around strategy on nearly every hole.

Revered golf course architect Harry Colt, during his tenure as Secretary, went on to add his own thoughtful refinements. His contributions include relocating the 4th, 7th and 12th greens to the positions they still occupy today.

A true test at the highest level, Sunningdale has long been a stage for championship golf. Alongside hosting the AIG Women’s Open in 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008, it has welcomed the Senior Open four times, the Walker Cup in 1987, and most recently the 2024 Curtis Cup, where Great Britain & Ireland claimed victory over USA under the leadership of Catriona Matthew, the AIG Women's Open Champion in 2009.

New stories will be written, with potential for more magic moments, when the AIG Women's Open returns from 14 to 20 August 2028.