1981 European Ladies' Team Championship

The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and situated on the Tróia Peninsula, Grândola Municipality, 40 kilometres south-east of the city center of Lisbon, Portugal, stretched along the beach, with views over the sea and with sandy roughs.[1]

The championship course was set up with par 73.

All participating teams played two qualification rounds of stroke-play with six players, counted the five best scores for each team.

The eight best teams formed flight A, in knock-out match-play over the next three days. The teams were seeded based on their positions after the stroke-play. The first placed team was drawn to play the quarter-final against the eight placed team, the second against the seventh, the third against the sixth and the fourth against the fifth. In each match between two nation teams, two 18-hole foursome games and five 18-hole single games were played. Teams were allowed to switch players during the team matches, selecting other players in to the afternoon single games after the morning foursome games. Games all square after 18 holes were declared halved, if the team match was already decided.

The seven teams placed 9–15 in the qualification stroke-play formed Flight B, to play similar knock-out play to decide their final positions.

15 nation teams contested the event. Each team consisted of six players.

Players in the leading teams

Country	Players
Denmark	Mette Andersen, Anette Hagdrup, Merete Meiland, Anette Peitersen, Tina Pors, Lotta Schmidt
France	Eliane Berthét, Nathalie Jeanson, Sophie Lapaire, Marie-Laure de Lorenzi, Cécilia Mourgue d'Algue
Italy	Emanuelo Braito, Marina Buscaini, Federica Dassù, P. Tolomei, S. Valli
Scotland	Wilma Aitken, L. Bennett, Alison Gemmill, Belle Robertson, Gillian Stewart, Pamela Wright
Spain	Ana Monfort de Albox, Marta Figueras-Dotti, Elena Larrazabal, Cristina Marsans, Vicky Pertierra
Sweden	Hillevi Hagström, Viveca Hoff, Gisela Linnér, Charlotte Montgomery, Pia Nilsson, Liv Wollin
West Germany	Sabine Blecher, Silke Greve, Susanne Knödler, Astrid Peter, Marion Thannhäuser, Ines Umsen

Other participating teams

Country
Belgium
England
Ireland
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Switzerland
Wales

Four-times-champions team France won the opening 36-hole qualifying competition, with a score of 37 over par 767, nine strokes ahead of team Sweden. Defending champions team Ireland made it to the quarter-finals, finishing eighth, on the same score as ninth-placed team Wales, but with the tie-breaking better non-counting scores.

Individual leader in the 36-hole stroke-play competition was Charlotte Montgomery, Sweden, with a score of 1-under-par 145, three strokes ahead of her Swedish teammate Liv Wollin.

During the quarter-finals, in the foursome game between Susan Gorman / Claire Hourihane, Ireland, and Elaine Berthet / Sophie Lapaire, France, Hourihane made a hole-in-one on the 150 meters 11th hole, using a 6-iron. However, the French pair won the game and team France eventually advanced to the final of the tournament.[2]

Team Sweden won the championship, earning their first title, beating France in the final 41⁄2–21⁄2, despite France was leading 2–0 after the morning foursomes. Playing in their ninth final, France had finished on the podium in all twelve European Ladies' Team Championships played since its inauguration in 1959. Team Spain, earned third place, beating Scotland 5–2 in the third place match.

The three teams placed first, second and third, were awarded with gold-, silver- and bronze-medals respectively, introduced by the organizing European Golf Association.[2]

Qualification round

Team standings Place Country Score To par 1  France 378-389=767 +37 2  Sweden 384-392=776 +46 3  Spain 380-400=780 +50 4  Scotland 390-399=789 +59 5  Italy 401-399=800 +70 6  West Germany 394-407=801 +71 7  Denmark 396-409=807 +77 T8  Ireland * 403-407=810 +80  Wales 810 10   Switzerland 812 +82 11  Netherlands 819 +89 12  England 823 +93 13  Belgium 824 +94 14  Norway 834 +104 15  Portugal 940 +210 * Note: In the event of a tie the order was determined by the better total non-counting scores.

Individual leaders Place Player Country Score To par 1 Charlotte Montgomery  Sweden 72-73=145 −1 2 Liv Wollin  Sweden 74-74=148 +2 T3 Eliane Berthet  France 74-75=149 +3 Alison Gemmill  Scotland 74-75=149 5 Elena Larrazabal  Spain 71-79=150 +4 6 Tina Pors  Denmark 73-78=151 +5 T7 Anna Albox  Spain 75-77=152 +6 Federica Dassù  Italy 75-77=152 Marie-Laure de Lorenzi  France 75-77=152 10 Cécilia Mourgue d'Algue  France 75-78=153 +7 Note: There was no official award for the lowest individual score.

Flight A

Bracket   Quarter finals Semi finals Final                                Sweden 4.5        Denmark 2.5    Sweden 4        Spain 3    Spain 5        West Germany 2    Sweden 4.5        France 2.5    Scotland 4        Italy 3    France 4        Scotland 3 Bronze match    France 5        Ireland 2    Spain 5      Scotland 2     Elimination matches Match for 5th place                        Italy 5        Ireland 2    Italy 7        Denmark 0    Denmark 4.5      West Germany 2.5   Match for 7th place            West Germany 4.5      Ireland 2.5

Final games  Sweden  France 4.5 2.5 H. Hagström / L. Wollin C. Mourge d'Algue / M.L de Lorenzi 1 hole C. Montgomery / P. Nilsson E. Berthet / S. Lapaire 5 & 4 Liv Wollin 1 hole Marie Laure de Lorenzi Pia Nilsson 1 hole Eliane Berthét Gisela Linnér AS * Cecilia Morgue d'Algue AS * Hillevi Hagström 3 & 1 Sophie Lapaire Charlotte Montgomery 3 & 1 Nathalie Jeanson * Note: Game all square after 18 holes declared halved, since team match already decided.

Final standings

Place	Country
	Sweden
	France
	Spain
4	Scotland
5	Italy
6	Denmark
7	West Germany
8	Ireland
9	Netherlands
10	England
11	Wales
12	Switzerland
13	Norway
14	Belgium
15	Portugal

Sources:[2][3][4][5][6][7]

• Espirito Santo Trophy – biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organized by the International Golf Federation.
• European Amateur Team Championship – European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association.

• European Golf Association: Results