Lauren Crump has followed close friend Charlotte Naughton onto the World Junior Girls winners’ board, while Naughton has made history of her own after an outstanding season in European amateur golf.
England’s leading young women golfers have added two more significant titles to an already impressive year, with Lauren Crump winning the World Junior Girls Golf Championship and Charlotte Naughton becoming the inaugural winner of the Women’s European Amateur Order of Merit.
There is a neat connection between the two achievements.
Crump’s victory at Brampton Golf Club in Canada made it back-to-back English individual titles at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship after Naughton won the same gold medal in 2025.
And for Crump, following Naughton onto the winners’ board was particularly special.
“Charlotte is one of my best friends and I’ve played a lot of junior golf with her,” she said. “To follow in her footsteps and see both of our pictures up there is incredible.”
Crump holds her nerve in Canada
Crump took a one-shot lead into the final round at Brampton after rounds of 68, 70 and a superb six-under-par 65.
The Shropshire golfer closed with a one-under 70 to finish the championship on 11-under, one shot ahead of Korea’s Seoah Kim.
With the lead still in the balance on the back nine, Crump identified a long par putt at the par-3 11th as an important moment. A birdie followed at the 14th before she completed her round with four consecutive pars.
Kim still had two holes to play, but birdie attempts at both 17 and 18 narrowly missed, leaving Crump as the individual champion.
“The pins were incredibly tough today, so I had the mindset of going for the ones that I needed to and staying conservative on any that were really difficult,” Crump said.
“I holed some really nice putts in the middle of my round, which helped keep my momentum going.”
The victory also brings a significant opportunity. Crump earns an exemption into the 2027 CPKC Women’s Open at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in Gatineau, Quebec.
It will be another taste of LPGA Tour golf for the England Squad player after she competed in the AIG Women’s Open earlier this season.
A landmark season for Naughton
While Crump was adding her name beneath Naughton’s in Canada, her friend was completing a breakthrough season of her own.
Naughton, 18, has become the first winner of the Women’s European Amateur Order of Merit, earning an EGA gold medal and an invitation to compete on the Ladies European Tour.
Her defining performance came at the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship in Sweden, where victory helped her build an advantage of more than 500 points in the season-long standings.
That European title also secured her place in the 2026 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, her first major championship.
“My highlight from 2026 is the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship – winning one of the most prestigious tournaments in Europe is my biggest achievement to date and I’m so proud my hard work paid off,” said Naughton.
Two players moving onto bigger stages
The significance of the two latest achievements isn’t simply another pair of trophies for England Golf’s talent pathway.
Both players are already beginning to move beyond junior and amateur competition and gain experience on considerably bigger stages.
Crump now has another LPGA Tour appearance waiting for her in Canada next August.
Naughton’s European Amateur Order of Merit victory brings an opportunity on the Ladies European Tour, while she will head to the University of Texas for her freshman year in 2027.
Her ambitions haven’t become any smaller.
“My targets for 2027 are to have a successful freshman year at the University of Texas, to continue to represent my county, and to put myself in contention at high-level tournaments,” she said.
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