Staff WriterAfter two decades of heartache, Great Britain and Ireland finally reclaimed the Vagliano Trophy in a fashion that would’ve made Seve punch the sky.
Trailing by a point heading into Saturday’s singles at Royal Hague Golf & Country Club, the GB&I women staged a comeback worthy of a Hollywood script, snatching a dramatic 12½–11½ victory over the Continent of Europe. It was their first win in the biennial event since 2005.
Call it gritty, call it glorious—whatever you call it, this was golf with its sleeves rolled up.
Led by non-playing captain Maria Dunne, whose poise matched the pressure, GB&I overturned the odds on European soil.
“There’s just something about this team,” she might have said, had her voice not been drowned out by champagne corks and the thump of jubilant hugs.
After eight straight defeats in the Vagliano Trophy, this win broke a streak that had felt as permanent as bad weather at Prestwick.
But Dunne’s squad, featuring five Curtis Cup winners—Lottie Woad, Hannah Darling, Patience Rhodes, Beth Coulter and Aine Donegan—didn’t show an ounce of nostalgia for losing.
The morning foursomes gave GB&I a lifeline, with a 2½–1½ session win that trimmed the deficit to just one point.
Woad, the world’s top-ranked amateur, paired with Nellie Ong to dispatch Denmark’s Madsen and Bunch 2&1, while Rhodes and Sophia Fullbrook matched the score against France’s Delon and Spain’s Lopez-Chacarra.
The stage was set. And the afternoon? It was pure theatre.
Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro, fresh off winning The Women’s Amateur Championship, drew first blood for Europe with a 2&1 win over Woad. Then came a thumping from Lopez-Chacarra over Coulter. The hosts looked poised to waltz to a ninth consecutive victory. But that’s when the tide turned.
Ong responded with a ruthless 6&5 demolition of Delon. McDonald-O’Brien edged out Min-Gaultier. Rhodes clawed past Brentcheneff. Momentum shifted. Hopes lifted.
And then came Donegan.
Level through 17, the Irishwoman summoned magic on the 18th—lasering a rescue club to 18 feet before draining the eagle putt. The kind of shot that lives in legends and swing thoughts alike. “That eagle,” as one spectator whispered, “could’ve powered the entire clubhouse.”
With the match now teetering, Fullbrook iced the win with a one-hole triumph over Dalgaard Bunch, before Madsen earned a consolation point by beating Darling 2&1. No matter. The Vagliano Trophy was finally heading back across the Channel.
“It means everything,” said one GB&I official, blinking through tears. And you believed them.
Meanwhile, on the junior front, it was a different story. The Continent of Europe cruised to an 11½–6½ win in the Junior Vagliano Trophy, dashing hopes of a GB&I double at Royal Hague.
Scotland’s Carly McDonald did offer a shining moment, holing an ace at the 17th in her one-hole loss to France’s Alice Kong. That’s golf for you—ecstasy and agony in a single swing.
Maria Dunne, Vagliano Trophy Captain for Great Britain and Ireland
“It’s been an unbelievable day. I said to the team early this morning that I had a really good feeling about today. They did the job in the foursomes, momentum went our way and they just fought. I told them last night ‘just keep fighting, keep fighting for every single point or half point’ and that’s exactly what they did.
“We came so close at Royal Dornoch in 2023 (lost by three points) and we knew we hadn’t won this event since 2005 so it feels amazing to do it. Patience had an incredible finish to win her singles match, before Aine rolled in that eagle on the 18th. I feel so privileged to be Captain. For GB&I to now hold both the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy is fantastic.
“I think the success in winning the Curtis Cup last year helped the team this week. I reminded them in our team meetings that we had that momentum and belief. My three rookies have also been unbelievable and done the job for me every time I’ve asked them. For the three who weren’t involved in the Curtis Cup, they could see the belief and they built on that too.”
The Dutch venue, which once crowned Nicolai Højgaard as European Amateur champion in 2018, proved once again that it doesn’t just test golf swings—it tests hearts.
As the sun set over The Hague, and the echoes of celebration carried into the evening, one truth stood tall: the Vagliano Trophy is back in GB&I hands, and not a moment too soon.
