1975 Women’s Amateur: Nancy Roth Syms wins at St Andrews

Nancy Roth Syms won the 1975 Women’s Amateur at St Andrews in St Andrews, Fife, beating Suzanne Cadden 3 & 2 in the final.

Updated 23 October 2026

Walk this draw in the The Women’s Amateur Championship room.

Edition: 72nd
Dates: 14 June 1975
Course: St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife
Format: match play
Champion: Nancy Roth Syms · United States
Champion's title: 1st Women’s Amateur title
Runner-up: Suzanne Cadden · age 17
Final: 3 & 2 (18-hole final)
Match-play field: 64
Losing semifinalists: Sandra McCaw and Dale Shaw
Stroke-play medalist: Carol Semple Thompson (144)
Defending champion: Carol Semple Thompson

What happened at the 1975 Women’s Amateur

Seventeen-year-old Suzanne Cadden lost the lead in the final when she pushed her drive into thick rough at the 6th, and three putts at the 8th gave Nancy Syms the lead for the first and final time.

Syms won on the tenth anniversary of her St Andrews honeymoon with her husband Billy caddying, completing a fourth American win on British soil in successive weeks.

Final, Nancy Syms v. Suzanne Cadden. Cadden three-putted the 8th to give Syms the lead for the first time, and Syms' recovery from a bunker to four feet at the 9th proved the turning point of a 3 and 2 win.

The draw

Every match is recorded through the final.

The final, 1975 Women’s Amateur

Winner		Beaten	Result
Nancy Roth Syms	def.	Suzanne Cadden	3 & 2

Semifinals, 1975 Women’s Amateur

Winner		Beaten	Result
Suzanne Cadden	def.	Sandra McCaw	unknown
Nancy Roth Syms	def.	Dale Shaw	unknown

How this was built

Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's Women’s Amateur data set (research collected through 20 October 2026). "unknown" means no source confirmed it; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the R&A's own record is used.

Data: womens-amateur.json.