The $10 million purse at Royal Lytham & St Annes is the easiest way to measure how far the AIG Women’s Open has traveled. The blank line beside 1983 in its record is the more revealing measure.
Fifty stagings invite celebration. The current championship carries major status, a global field and 34 scheduled hours of live television coverage. None of that was built into its future when the event began in 1976 at Fulford Golf Club with £500 in prize money, part of it supplied by the competitors themselves. Jenny Lee Smith, an amateur who had considered withdrawing because she was ill, won the first title.
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Seven editions later, there was no tournament at all.
That interruption is central to a new essay I wrote for the Golf Heritage Society, “The Women’s Open Was Never Promised a 50th Staging.” This Athlon companion offers a glimpse of the argument. The fuller history belongs on the GHS blog, where the championship’s uncertain beginning, missing year and eventual rise can be examined without reducing 50 years to a trophy list.
The Story Behind the Milestone
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Why 50 Was Never Guaranteed
The modern Women’s Open looks permanent. Its history says otherwise. The championship began with limited resources, disappeared for one year and spent decades earning the status it now carries.
1976
The first championship was played at Fulford with a £500 purse, partly supported by the competitors.
1983
No tournament was played, leaving a blank space that prevents the championship’s survival from looking inevitable.
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2001
The Women’s Open received LPGA major-championship status 25 years after its inaugural staging.
2026
Royal Lytham hosts the 50th staging with a $10 million purse and 34 scheduled hours of live coverage.
The through line: The Women’s Open was built before it was secure.
Before the Championship Had Institutional Weight
Golf is skilled at making its important events look permanent. There are engraved trophies, familiar venues, polished broadcasts and generations of champions arranged neatly in the record book.
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The first Women’s Open had none of that accumulated authority.
A £500 purse, especially one partly supported by the players, showed how little financial structure surrounded women’s professional golf in Britain at the time. Lee Smith’s victory as an amateur also reflected a championship that was still defining what it would become.
The event quickly produced international winners, but significance and security are not the same thing. It would not become an LPGA major championship until 2001, a quarter-century after its first playing.
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That distinction matters. Major status did not suddenly make the previous 25 years meaningful. It formally recognized a championship that players had already spent decades legitimizing through their presence, performance and persistence.
The LED board on the 18th green reading ‘AIG Women’s Open – 50 Years – Never Stop Playing’ prior to the AIG Women’s Open 2026 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes on July 27, 2026 in Lytham St Annes, England. (Photo by Kate McShane /R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Why 1983 Changes the Anniversary
The official record moves from Marta Figueras-Dotti’s victory at Royal Birkdale in 1982 to Ayako Okamoto’s win at Woburn in 1984.
There is no champion between them because there was no championship.
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That makes the current milestone more revealing than the phrase “50th anniversary” suggests. The Women’s Open has reached 50 stagings across 51 years. Its history contains a genuine interruption, not a ceremonial footnote.
Anniversaries often encourage hindsight. Once an event becomes wealthy, televised and institutionally protected, its survival can look like the natural order of things. The missing 1983 edition strips away that illusion.
The Women’s Open did not advance in a straight line from Fulford to Royal Lytham. It moved among venues, operated with uneven resources and spent years building credibility before golf’s power structure fully matched the commitment shown by the women competing for the title.
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Royal Lytham Made the Growth Personal
Royal Lytham & St Annes is hosting the championship for the sixth time in 2026, and its past winners there help explain how the event’s stature changed.
Annika Sorenstam completed the career Grand Slam at Lytham in 2003. Catriona Matthew won there in 2009 only 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. Georgia Hall closed with a 67 in 2018, with her father, Wayne, serving as her caddie, to claim her first major title.
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Those victories belong to different eras and carry different meanings. Together, they show a championship that became capable of holding some of the most consequential moments in women’s golf.
The venue matters, but so does the journey required to reach it. The modern Women’s Open can now return to one of the game’s most demanding links and look entirely at home. That comfort was earned.
Preserving Golf’s Story
Discover the Golf Heritage Society
The Golf Heritage Society brings together people who care about the game’s history, traditions and physical artifacts. Its community includes collectors, historians, writers, architects, artists, players, course superintendents and golf professionals.
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Research and Archives
Historical articles, periodical archives and member knowledge that preserve golf’s fuller story.
Artifacts and Collecting
A community built around golf books, clubs, artwork, memorabilia and other tangible pieces of the game.
Events and Fellowship
Conventions, educational sessions, guest speakers, golf events and connections with others who value the game’s heritage.
Read the Full Women’s Open Essay
Join the Golf Heritage Society
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Why This Story Belongs There
A championship’s history is larger than its champions.
The full essay explores the people, resources, interruptions and acts of belief that carried the Women’s Open from a £500 beginning to its landmark 50th staging.
You do not need to be a collector or historian to belong. A genuine appreciation for golf and its heritage is enough.
Golf History Needs More Than a Record Book
I write and consult for the Golf Heritage Society because the organization treats golf history as something living, not decorative.
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The Society brings together collectors, historians, writers, architects, players, artists, course superintendents and golf professionals. Its work includes preserving artifacts, maintaining archives, publishing historical research and creating opportunities for people who care about the game’s past to learn from one another.
That mission fits this Women’s Open story.
A winner’s list tells us who finished first. It does not always explain who kept an event alive, what resources were missing, why a venue mattered or how a championship slowly acquired the stature later generations inherited.
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The full GHS essay follows that broader arc, from the £500 beginning at Fulford through the absent 1983 edition, major recognition in 2001 and the scale of the 2026 championship. It also examines the Royal Lytham victories that gave the event some of its most human and memorable chapters.
The 50th staging is worth celebrating because it was never guaranteed to arrive.
The blank beside 1983 should remain visible. It reminds us that the Women’s Open did not become permanent because history promised it would. It became permanent because enough people kept showing up, competing, investing and believing that it deserved a future.
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PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
Related: Royal Lytham Is the Great Equalizer at the AIG Women’s Open
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Aug 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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