Six Spanish women will be part of the line-up from this Thursday in the fifth and final Major of the women’s golf season. Carlota Ciganda, María Hernández, Marta Martín, Julia López, Carla Bernat and Paula Martín are the lucky ones who have earned the right to participate in the British Women’s Open.
Royal Porthcawl hosts the women’s event for the first time. We will see if history changes for Spanish golf with this Major in Wales. Beyond the fact that none of our players have won any Major in general, the relationship of our players with this particular Major has not been the most favourable.
It’s not for lack of trying. Since the British started as a Major in 2001, a total of thirty Spanish women have played this event. The latest to debut was Marta Martín in 2024 in a tournament where she ended up making the cut. The first to play this tournament were Marina Arruti, Raquel Carriedo, Paula Martí, Ana Belén Sánchez and Marta Prieto in 2001 when the tournament began to be a Major.
This year there are two players joining the select club of Spanish women. They are precisely two amateurs: Carla Bernat as the winner of the ANWA and Paula Martín for her triumph in the British Amateur, although she would have also qualified for her victory in the European Individual. They are the 31st and 32nd Spanish women in history. Since 2018 with Noemí Jiménez and Silvia Banon, two players have not debuted in the same year.
A total of 111 participations by Spanish women in the tournament. The Spanish woman with the most appearances is none other than Carlota Ciganda with fifteen appearances. It is not her favourite Major, in fact, it is the only Major where she has never finished among the top four. She is undoubtedly looking to change the trend this week. It is true that she has missed seven cuts in the British Open, but she has also finished in seventh place on two occasions.
As mentioned, 111 participations and only four times has the Armada finished in the top ten of the tournament. In fact, in the first two editions, Marina Arruti and Paula Martí finished among the top ten, and in the last 22 years, only Carlota Ciganda has managed to join that club with two other appearances. A 3% chance of making the top ten.
If we look at top 20 appearances, the figure rises to fifteen. However, beyond the two mentioned top tens of Carlota, since 2016 no Spanish woman has been placed among the top twenty in the event. Beatriz Recari (T14) and Azahara Muñoz (T17) nine years ago were the last.
The best overall result in this event as a Major was achieved by Paula Martí, who finished second in 2002 in the event held at Turnberry. It is true that Marta Figueras-Dotti won the Women’s Open in 1982 while still an amateur, but back then it was not considered a Major.
2009 was the year with the most Spanish players. A total of eight of our players participated at Royal Lytham. That year both Azahara Muñoz, Emma Cabrera Bello, and Carmen Alonso made their first appearances in the event.
Paula Martín and Carla Bernat have a double challenge ahead. Beyond Marina Arruti’s seventh place in 2001, the best Spanish debutant in the tournament was Luna Sobrón in 2015. Like them, as an amateur, she finished T13 and, of course, won the Smyth Salver award as the best amateur of that edition. It is no small task that both players have ahead of them.
List of thirty players who have played the British Women’s Open (since it became a Major in 2001):
- Marina Arruti (2001)
- Raquel Carriedo (2001)
- Paula Martí (2001)
- Ana Belén Sánchez (2001)
- Marta Prieto (2001)
- Ana Larraneta (2002)
- Vanessa Vignali (2002)
- Elisa Serramia (2003)
- Nuria Clau (2004)
- Carlota Ciganda (2005)
- Belén Mozo (2006)
- Tania Elosegui (2006)
- Laura Cabanillas (2006)
- Beatriz Recari (2007)
- Carmen Alonso (2009)
- Emma Cabrera Bello (2009)
- Azahara Muñoz (2009)
- Mariana Macías (2010)
- Marta Silva (2013)
- Luna Sobrón (2015)
- María Parra (2016)
- Marta Sanz (2016)
- Nuria Iturrioz (2016)
- Noemí Jiménez (2018)
- Silvia Bannon (2018)
- Ana Peláez (2022)
- Julia López (2023)
- Marta Martín (2024)
