Hannah Darling and Louise Duncan among 71 players to accept Augusta invitation

Scottish duo Hannah Darling and Louise Duncan are among 71 players confirmed for the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

West Kilbride's Louise Duncan shows off her Augusta National Women's Amateur invitation.

Invitations for the event were sent out last month, with 39 of the top 40 in the World’s World Amateur Golf Ranking among those to accept spots in the event from 30 March-2 April.

They include ninth-ranked Darling and world No 29 Duncan after they earned invitations through winning the Girls Amateur and Women’s Amateur Championships respectively last year.

Broomieknowe player Darling and Duncan, a member of West Kilbride, are set to make history as the first Scots to play in the event.

Hannah Darling's invitation for the event, which takes place on 30 March-2 April.

The confirmed field is headed by world No 1 Rose Zhang of the US while the list also includes English duo Annabell Fuller and Caley McGinty.

Beginning the week prior to the 86th Masters, the international field will compete across 54 holes of stroke play, with a cut to 30 players taking place after 36 holes.

The first two rounds will take place on the Island and Bluff nines at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday, March 30 and Thursday, March 31.

The entire field will then play Augusta National for an official practice round on Friday, April 1 before the final round involving competitors who made the cut takes place there on Saturday, April 2.

Jennifer Kupcho, who is now on the LPGA Tour, was the champion of the inaugural championship in 2019 before the 2020 edition was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Tsubasa Kajitani captured the first title for Japan at Augusta National, eight days prior to Hideki Matsuyama’s breakthrough major win at the Masters.

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