About Barrenjoey Women's Classic

In 1982, a group of forward-thinking women from five Northern Beaches golf clubs devised the concept of a golf tournament — billed as "a chance to have a holiday after the Christmas school holidays." It was also a great opportunity for women golfers from outside the Barrenjoey Peninsula to come and enjoy the beautiful Northern Beaches of Sydney. February 1983 marked the beginning of what was then the Barrenjoey Peninsula Week of Golf, with 300 players competing in that very first year.

The tournament is run entirely by a volunteer committee of representatives from each host club, who organise the week and seek contributions from sponsors for trophies and prizes. What began with 300 players across five clubs grew steadily — by 2013 the field had reached 640 entries from 55 different clubs, with entrants travelling from as far afield as Tweed Heads, Canberra, Warren, and even Japan. In 2023 the tournament moved to its current three-day format and took on a new name — the Barrenjoey Women's Classic — while keeping the same spirit, and the same host clubs, that have defined it for over four decades. Registration, competition management and scoring are now facilitated by Golf Genius, free of charge to every entrant.

The tournament has been a nominated Jean Derrin event since 1997. The Jean Derrin Trophy is open to female amateur golfers with a current Australian (or overseas equivalent) handicap of 14 and under, registered with Golf NSW. The winner is the player with the lowest scoring average across a minimum of 10 rounds played in nominated Jean Derrin events for the year.

Jean Derrin was a member of Pennant Hills Golf Club from 1927 to 1951, later joining the NSWLGU Executive Council in 1963 and being appointed an Honorary Member of the LGU in 1965. By all accounts she was a much-loved and extremely hard-working member of the Council, and the trophy bearing her name was instigated in her honour in 1971.

In addition to being a Jean Derrin event, the tournament has been a Golf NSW Women's Senior Order of Merit (Women's SOOM) event since 2026. The Women's SOOM is open to female amateur golfers aged 50 and over, with points awarded across nominated events throughout the year.

A charity raffle was added to the event in 2005, and it's been raising money for a selected Northern Beaches charity ever since — originally supporting the Manly Women's Shelter, and today supporting Women & Children First. It's a fitting thread running through the tournament's history: from the very beginning, this has always been about more than the golf.