Broken driver and a quintuple bogey! This Irish amateur won’t forget her US Women’s Open debut

For good or bad, Irish amateur Aine Donegan has had a week to remember at her first US Women’s Open – and it isn’t over yet.

After playing in a team event for Great Britain and Ireland in Scotland last week, she needed three flights to reach the West Coast, culminating in a 30-hour journey.

Donegan arrived at Pebble Beach, but her clubs didn’t – they’d been lost during her travels.

She played a practice round before her first major without her own clubs, and when they finally arrived in San Francisco, her driver was smashed.

Donegan, just 21, carded rounds of 69 and 76 to make the weekend at the famous venue with a new a driver, and she now finds herself in the top 20 heading into Sunday despite carding a nine in the third round.

A par to remember for @DoneganAine! 👏#USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/qA08kTYj66

— U.S. Women’s Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 8, 2023

She hit two shots in the hazard on the par-4 8th hole on her way to a quintuple bogey, but with four birdies elsewhere, the Louisiana State student finished with a 75 to sit in tied 19th.

“I hit a good tee shot and I had about 190 to the flag,” Donegan said afterwards. “The wind was really, really left to right there, and that wind often doesn’t suit a right-handed golfer who plays a draw.

“Not that it makes a huge difference, or it’s an excuse, but I hit two very bad shots in a row, which obviously concluded in me having a nine on the hole. I had to keep moving on.”

Perhaps Donegan is too far behind 54-hole leader Nasa Hataoka to contend, but she holds a three-shot lead over Benedetta Moresco and Monet Chun in the race for low amateur honours.

The girl from Lahinch is ranked 144th in the Women’s Amateur Rankings and she qualified for her major bow at Peninsula Golf Club in New York.

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