Alison Nicholas

Alison Nicholas, MBE (born 6 March 1962) is an English professional golfer, who won the 1997 U.S. Women's Open.

Alison Nicholas
Nicholas at the official announcement of the 2009 Solheim Cup team
Personal information
Full nameAlison Nicholas
Born (1962-03-06) 6 March 1962
Gibraltar
Height1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Sporting nationality England
Career
Turned professional1984
Former tour(s)Ladies European Tour (joined 1984)
LPGA Tour (joined 1989)
Professional wins18
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour4
Ladies European Tour12 (10th all-time)
Other2
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 1)
Chevron ChampionshipT16: 1995
Women's PGA C'shipT23: 2000
U.S. Women's OpenWon: 1997
du Maurier ClassicCUT: 1997
Women's British Open28th: 2004
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Order of Merit		1997
Ladies European Tour
Player of the Year		1997

Amateur career

Nicholas was born in Gibraltar. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Anne (now Abbots Bromley School for Girls). She enjoyed a very successful amateur career in England. She started playing golf at the age of 17 and won the 1982 and 1983 Northern Girls Amateur Open. Nicholas was the 1983 British Amateur Stroke Play champion. In 1983, Nicholas won the Yorkshire Ladies County Championship.

Professional career

Nicholas turned professional in 1984 and joined the Ladies European Tour in the same year. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1989.

Nicholas won the Women's British Open in 1987, when it was recognised as a major championship by the Ladies European Tour only, and the 1997 U.S. Women's Open. She became the seventh player to have won both the British and U.S. Open titles, joining Laura Davies, Jane Geddes, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Liselotte Neumann and Annika Sörenstam.

At her retirement at the end of the 2004 season, Nicholas had won 12 events on the Ladies European Tour. She topped the European Tour Order of Merit in 1997 and finished in the top-10 15 times in 16 seasons between 1985 and 2000. She also won four times on the LPGA Tour, between 1995 and 1999, including winning the U.S. Women's Open in 1997. In 1992, she won both the Western Australian Open and the Malaysian Open.

She won the 1991 Vivien Saunders Trophy for lowest stroke average (71.71). In 1997, she became the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year, was awarded The Association of Golf Writers Trophy and was voted LET Players' Player of the Year, 1997 Evening Mail Sports Personality of the Year and 1997 Midlands Sports Personality of the Year.

In 1998, she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for "services to women's golf", and in 2002 became a Life Member of the Ladies European Tour.

Nicholas was a member of the European Solheim Cup team in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000, forming a formidable partnership with Laura Davies. She was non-playing assistant captain in 2005. In 2007, Nicholas was selected captain for the 2009 and 2011 European Solheim Cup teams.[1] In 2011, she led the European team to a 15–13 victory at Killeen Castle outside Dublin, Ireland.

Professional wins (18)

LPGA Tour wins (4)
Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 28 May 1995 LPGA Corning Classic[2] −13 (70-67-66-72=275) 3 strokes United States Barb Mucha
2 10 Sep 1995 Ping-AT&T Wireless Services LPGA Golf Championship[3] −9 (66-73-68=207) 3 strokes United States Kelly Robbins
3 13 Jul 1997 U.S. Women's Open −10 (70-66-67-71=274) 1 stroke United States Nancy Lopez
4 20 Feb 1999 Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open −7 (70-66-73=209) 1 stroke United States Annette DeLuca
United States Moira Dunn

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1993 LPGA Corning Classic United States Kelly Robbins Lost to par on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (12)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
12 Aug 1987Weetabix Women's British Open[4]+4 (74-76-73-73=296)1 strokeEngland Laura Davies
United States Muffin Spencer-Devlin
226 Sep 1987Laing Charity Classic[5]−8 (76-67-69-69=281)2 strokesAustralia Corinne Dibnah
321 May 1988British Olivetti Tournament[6]−9 (71-72-69-71=283)1 strokeScotland Jane Connachan
44 Sep 1988Variety Club Celebrity Classic[7]−12 (68-67-69=204)4 strokesScotland Dale Reid
52 Oct 1988James Capel Guernsey Open[7]−14 (68-72-67-67= 274)2 strokesSouth Africa Alison Sheard
630 Jul 1989Lufthansa Ladies' German Open[8]−19 (67-69-68-65=269)5 strokesColombia Patricia Gonzalez
727 Aug 1989Gislaved Ladies Open[9]E (73-72-69-74=288)2 strokesSweden Liselotte Neumann
83 Nov 1989Qualitair Classic[10]−3 (69-74-70=213)2 strokesUnited States Peggy Conley
Sweden Sofia Grönberg
92 Sep 1990Variety Club Celebrity Classic[11] (2)−13 (68-68-68-71=275)1 strokeSweden Sofia Grönberg
1010 May 1992AGF Ladies' Open de Paris[12]−9 (66-68-73-68=275)1 strokePeru Alicia Dibos
116 Aug 1995Payne & Gunter Scottish Open[13]−16 (66-67-70-69=272)1 strokeFrance Patricia Meunier
1228 Jul 1996Guardian Irish Open[14]−11 (69-73-65-70=277)8 strokesEngland Trish Johnson

Ladies European Tour Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1990 Laing Ladies Charity Classic[15] South Africa Laurette Maritz Lost

Note: Nicholas won the Women's British Open once before it was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour in 1994, and recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2001.

Source:[16]

Other wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1997U.S. Women's Open−10 (70-66-67-71=274)1 strokeUnited States Nancy Lopez

Team appearances

Professional

Solheim Cup record
YearTotal
matches		Total
W–L–H		Singles
W–L–H		Foursomes
W–L–H		Fourballs
W–L–H		Points
won		Points
%
Career 18 7–8–3 1–3–2 4–3–0 2–2–1 8.5 47.22%
1990 3 1–2–0 0–1–0 lost to N. Lopez 6&4 1–0–0 won w/L. Davies 2&1 0–1–0 lost w/L. Davies 4&3 1 33.3%
1992 3 2–1–0 0–1–0 lost to J. Inkster 3&2 1–0–0 won w/L. Davies 1up 1–0–0 won w/L. Davies 1up 2 66.7%
1994 3 2–1–0 1–0–0 def P. Sheehan 3&2 1–0–0 won w/L.Davies 2&1 0–1–0 lost w/L.Davies 2&1 2 66.7%
1996 3 0–1–2 0–0–1 halved w/ K. Robbins 0–1–0 lost w/L. Davies 1dn 0–0–1 halved w/H. Alfredsson 1 33.3%
1998 2 0–2–0 0–1–0 lost to T. Green 1dn 0–1–0 lost w/H. Alfredsson 3&1 0 0%
2000 4 2–1–1 0–0–1 halved w/S. Steinhauer 1–1–0 won w/L. Davies 4&3, lost w/L.Davies 6&5 1–0–0 won w/H. Alfredsson 3&2 2.5 62.5%

See also

Notes and references
  1. Cutler, Bethan (5 November 2007). "Nicholas Solheim Cup Captain for Europe". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 25 May 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  2. "1995 Corning Classic Golfstats". GolfObserver.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  3. "1995 Ping Championship Golfstats". GolfObserver.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  4. "Results Wetabix Ladies' British Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9/1987. September 1987. p. 75. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  5. "Results Laing Charity Classic". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10/1987. October 1987. p. 89. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  6. "Results British Olivetti Tournament". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6/1988. June 1988. p. 91. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  7. "Results Variety Classic, Guernsey Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10/1988. October 1988. p. 91. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  8. "Results Lufthansa Ladies German Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8/1989. August 1988. p. 45. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  9. Nordlund, Anders (September 1989). "Gislaveds Ladies Open: Lotta kom, sågs - och missade" [Gislaveds Ladies Open: Lotta came, was seen - and lost]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9/1989. pp. 68–69. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  10. Sellberg, Lena (November 1989). "Sofia tvåa i La Manga, Qualitar Classic" [Sofia second in La Manga, Qualitar Classic]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 11. pp. 94–95.
  11. "Variety Club Ladies Classic". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10/1990. October 1990. p. 75. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  12. "Results AGF Ladies Open de Paris". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6/1992. June 1992. p. 141. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  13. "Results Scottish Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9/1995. September 1995. p. 79. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  14. "Results Guardian Irish Holydays Open". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 9/1996. September 1996. p. 117. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  15. "Results Laing Ladies Charity Classic". Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8/1990. August 1990. p. 75. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  16. "Alison Nicholas, Alla tävlingsresultat" [Alison Nicholas, All Results] (in Swedish). Golfdata.se. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
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