Golf Ireland and Women’s Golf
Formation and Structure
Golf Ireland was formally established in 2021 as the single governing body for golf across the island of Ireland, following the merger of the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) and the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union (ILGU).
The ILGU, founded in 1893, was created in the same year as the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU), which governed women’s golf across Great Britain and Ireland. Although it was not the first national women’s body — the LGU preceded it by months — the ILGU was among the earliest and most enduring, administering women’s golf in Ireland for more than 125 years.
The merger into Golf Ireland unified male and female administration for the first time, creating a single structure responsible for handicapping, competitions, club development, coaching, and representation at national and international level. The new organisation operates under the guidance of The R&A and aligns closely with the Women in Golf Charter, embedding equality and inclusion into governance.
Women’s and Girls’ Development
Golf Ireland inherited the ILGU’s long-standing commitment to growing women’s participation, and has expanded that work through a series of structured national programmes:
- Women and Girls in Golf Programme – provides mentoring and support for clubs to recruit and retain female members.
- LevelPar Programme – promotes gender balance in club governance and access, enabling clubs to meet the standards of the R&A Women in Golf Charter.
- #GolfLikeMe Campaign – highlights diverse pathways into golf, including outreach to Traveller women, women with disabilities, and new adult beginners.
- More than 150 clubs in Ireland have now achieved Women in Golf Charter status, reflecting measurable progress in gender equity.
These initiatives continue the ILGU’s heritage of volunteer-led inclusion but with the benefit of professional structures and national funding support.
Competitions and Representation
Golf Ireland manages the full national calendar of women’s amateur championships, maintaining the historic continuity of ILGU events:
- Irish Women’s Amateur Close Championship (est. 1894)
- AIG Women’s Senior Cup and AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes – leading inter-club team events for women.
- Girls’ Interprovincial Championships – key developmental pathway for emerging players.
These championships now sit alongside the men’s competitions within a unified structure, while retaining their own heritage identities.
Women are represented on the Golf Ireland Board and on regional committees, though—as in other merged governing bodies—executive and technical leadership remains predominantly male, reflecting a continuing challenge in translating participation equity into professional parity.
Senior and Veteran Women’s Golf
Senior women are a defining strength of Irish amateur golf, both competitively and organisationally.
Within Golf Ireland, senior women compete in national and inter-club events such as the AIG Women’s Senior Cup and Senior Foursomes, sustaining high standards of play well beyond the elite amateur level.
Beyond Golf Ireland’s structure, a network of independent Senior and Veteran Ladies’ Golf Societies continues to flourish across Ireland — including the Senior Women’s Golf Society (Ulster Branch) and other regional groups that pre-date the merger. These associations organise their own fixtures, matches, and over-50s competitions, operating in parallel to the national body rather than under it.
This dual system reflects a long tradition inherited from the Veteran Ladies’ movement founded in 1921 — a model in which senior women maintain self-governing communities while also contributing to the wider game as referees, officials, and administrators.
Commentary
The creation of Golf Ireland represents a decisive modernisation of golf governance, bringing men’s and women’s administration together after more than a century of separate development.
Yet, as elsewhere, this unification also risks diluting the distinct culture and accumulated expertise of women’s and senior women’s golf. Much of the continuity of the women’s game — its competitions, mentorship, and values of service and friendship — still resides in the independent senior associations and long-standing club networks rather than within the central bureaucracy.
Senior women remain vital custodians of Irish amateur golf: organising competitions, nurturing new players, and embodying the ethos of inclusivity and respect that has sustained women’s golf since 1893. Their quiet leadership continues to bridge the traditions of the ILGU with the ambitions of modern Golf Ireland.