Carton House hosts next week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open, and their young stars can’t wait to welcome the largest-ever Irish presence in the field.

Five professionals, led by Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire, will be joined by eight amateurs for the €400,000 Ladies European Tour event.

It’s a special occasion for the host club and their burgeoning girls' membership as they celebrate this week’s victory in the Girls’ Under 18 Inter-Club Championship at Warrenpoint.

While there was disappointment that the format switched from matchplay to stableford points this year, the Co Kildare club claimed an emotional win just 12 months after losing out in the final at Castletroy.

They edged out County Louth on a countback and hope to parade their green pennant and the trophy in front of tour stars next week.

“Our Junior girls club is hugely competitive and we have over 15 girls out of our 50-plus junior girls members who could qualify for the team with five or six more set to join the squad in 2025,” reported team manager Colin Cunningham.  

“Good times ahead, but we must also thank club captain Sinead Keane, ex-Irish international, for all her support of me and the Team Carton Junior Girl Club, together with her committee and the women members in the club.  

“The future is bright and we look forward to celebrating our win next week and showing off our trophy and green pennant with the elite of Irish, European and global women’s golf during the KPMG Irish Women’s Open at Carton House.”

As for the result at Warrenpoint, Cunningham’s only regret was the change of format.

“It removed the excitement of matchplay, the feeling of a team the boys get from the Fred Daly or Boys’ Foursomes, the new friendships built through the intensity of matchplay with the opposition, the fun for the supporters watching each match and ultimately knowing what each putt means in terms of the result,” he said.  

“We have lost the only matchplay competition for the girls in the calendar and for this year’s All Ireland finals, it meant the boys played almost 90pc of the rounds at Warrenpoint this year.”

Despite that, Cunningham was immensely proud of his squad of Amelie Cunningham, Ellen Campion, Alex Cunningham, Sinead Melville, Aoibhe Cunningham, Chloe Murphy and Cara Fitzpatrick, led by Junior Captain Aoife Lyons.  

“Aoife and Alex had the two counting scores for Carton House to win on 71 points over a demanding and beautifully presented Warrenpoint, with Aoife’s score of 40 points, the best of the day and the difference in a break of a tie with Co Louth, who also had 71 points,” Cunningham said.

“Our team were playing off a collective 15 shots lower than in the qualifiers, so it shows how this competition drives them on to participate more than they normally would.”

The squad will be volunteering at Carton House next week as a record Irish contingent tees it up.

Elm Park’s Anna Foster and Lurgan’s Annabel Wilson will be making their professional debuts on the O’Meara Course alongside Maguire, Olivia Mehaffey, and Carton House’s touring professional  Lauren Walsh, who is a contender for Rookie of the Year honours on the LET.

Amateurs Emma Fleming, Kate Lanigan, Olivia Costello and Aideen Walsh make their second Irish Open appearances this year after playing at Dromoland Castle in 2023 and they will have competition for low amateur honours from Roisin Scanlon, Kate Dillon, Canice Screene and Anna Abom.

“Thanks to our title sponsor, KPMG, and all of our event co-sponsors and partners, we are privileged to be in a position where we can give so many Irish players an opportunity to play in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open,” said Cian Branagan, CEO of event promoter ForeFront Group.

“I know this opportunity will give them a taste of what it is like to compete at the highest level in Europe and we are beyond excited to provide them with this platform.”

Around 40,000 spectators are expected to attend the four-day event, where the 13 Irish players will be joined by defending champion Smilla Tarning Søenderby of Denmark, former AIG Women’s Open winner Georgia Hall and another seven winners on the LET circuit this year.