Claire Dowling has made golfing history after being named the first-ever female captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in the 272 years since its founding.
Nominated by the Past Captains of the Club, the 68-year-old Irishwoman will serve as captain for 2026/27, and will begin her year in office after the traditional driving-in ceremony on the first tee of the Old Course on 25 September, 2026.
A distinguished amateur golfer, Dowling represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup on four occasions and was part of the 1986 team which secured the first GB&I victory over the USA team on American soil with a 13-5 win at Prairie Dunes.
Born and educated in Dublin, Dowling attended Dublin College of Catering and graduated from Trinity College in 1979 with a Bsc in Hotel and Catering Management.
Much of Dowling’s early life was devoted to golf. She represented Ireland in the Home Internationals from 1979 to 1992 and played in six European Team Championships during that time. She also played for GB&I in the Espirito Santo Trophy on two occasions and six times in the Vagliano Trophy.
She won five Irish Championships, the first in 1983, the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 1986 and the Spanish Amateur Championship in 1987. She also reached the semi-final of what is now the Women’s Amateur Championship in 1981 and 1988.
After a successful playing career, Dowling went on to captain the GB&I Curtis Cup team in a narrow 10-8 defeat to the USA at Ganton in 2000. She also captained the Vagliano Trophy team and the Irish team.
Off the course, Dowling has been heavily involved in golf administration, chairing England Golf’s Handicap and Course Rating Committee following the EGU/EWGA merger in 2012. She sat on the CONGU board from 2012 – 2015 and was an advisory member of The R&A Amateur Status Committee from 1997-2001.
Dowling was one of the first women to become a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 2015 and served on the Rules Committee from 2015 to 2019, becoming Deputy Chair in 2017. She was elected to the General Committee in 2019 and became Deputy Chair in 2022. Claire is currently serving on the Membership Committee.
She has acted as a referee at The Open on seven occasions, including at Royal St George’s in 2021 when, with her husband Peter, a retired District Judge, they were the first married couple to referee at the same Championship.
As a key figure in Irish women’s golf, Dowling is an honorary life member of the Irish Ladies’ Golf Union and holds the same distinction at a number of golf clubs including Portmarnock, Copt Heath, Woodbrook and Cork. She is also a member of East Devon Golf Club and her current Handicap Index is 7.6.