With the 2026 match less than a year away, we take a look back at the second Women’s PGA Cup back in 2022, when GB&I came so close to a memorable win.
Suzanne Dickens, along with Heather MacRae and Alison Gray, has played on all three GB&I teams in the Women's PGA Cup. The Thorpe Wood Golf Academy Pro, who played on the Ladies European Tour for 15 years from 1996, qualified for the 2022 side courtesy of a tie for second in the WPGA Professional & Assistants’ Championship as well as a host of impressive finishes in the WPGA one-day series – and she would more than play her part in GB&I very nearly pulling off a remarkable victory.
“Making the Women’s PGA Cup side is something that we all strive for. It’s the absolute pinnacle of the year and to represent Great Britain & Ireland is so special and all three have left me feeling so proud and I’ve always come away with so much respect and affection for all of my team-mates.
“The second Women's PGA Cup was held at Twin Warriors in New Mexico and that has been my favourite so far and one that I'll always remember. The course was great, really challenging and up at altitude in the desert. I have played around the world but this was my first time playing in a desert and a big part of the week was acclimatising to the different grasses and how the club reacted with them. The other part was the weather. When we arrived we were thinking, why do we need these thick trousers and a woolly hat and, in the end, we needed more. It actually almost tried to snow one day
“Sarah Bennett was an exceptional captain for us, she was so well organised and so it was just seamless for us to just relax and play. Sarah would start organising months and months in advance and we were so well prepared for all the conditions that we were going to encounter.
“The inaugural competition in 2019 was a bit of a learning curve. I don't really think that we had a clue what to expect but we learned a lot from that one. I think we could definitely arrive in the States earlier than we do to acclimatise but that won't be an issue in 2026 as the cup will be held at Carden Park which will be amazing. Incidentally I genuinely think that we can win this for the first time next time.
Pictured: Suzanne Dickens playing at the 2022 PGA Cup at Twin Warriors Golf Club
“In the first cup we played in fiveballs which was taking six and a half hours and you would hit a shot every 20 minutes so that was really different and hard to get any flow. In 2022 South Africa joined the roster so we were able to play in threeballs which was a huge improvement to the event.
“The team element of the Women's PGA Cup makes it so fun and certainly one of the major highlights on the calendar. It's so lovely to see old friends and to play together as a team, we get such a great rapport and not just with your own team members and spending time with them, but meeting lots of other players as well.
“There are girls who I haven't seen for a while who maybe played on tour when I did, as well as making new friends, especially the South Africans who we'll always get on great with, along with the Swedes and Australians. So I've made some new friends, which is great and I'll keep in touch with now.
“We had Alison Nicholas in our team in Twin Warriors which was very cool to have a US Open champion and Solheim Cup captain by your side. Ali and I are good friends and we normally play in the Vivien Saunders event together which we've won a few times. She was a massive asset to the team and is so down to earth and that was another great part of the week. We were all nervous and Ali was a massive part in helping us to play our best.
“We've definitely got the talent and, with it being on home soil next year, I really do think we could win it” - Suzanne Dickens
“We were a handful of shots behind after the first two rounds but, with nine holes to play, we were actually in the lead which was a huge surprise given the sheer number of female American PGA Professionals. Everything changes so quickly, with three scores to count from five players, but we were up there before the United States eventually won again, by two shots from Canada with us just six shots back.
“I played OK on all three days, my score counting in each round, and where we could improve is to nail the last nine holes. It gets a bit strategic late on and it would be handy to do our homework on the back nine so, if we were in contention again, we'd feel well prepared.
“The American girls play a lot of competitive golf, often playing in tournaments twice a week so they're always going to be match fit, but I really do think that we can win it. We've definitely got the talent and, with it being on home soil next year, that would be great.”
