Nicole Garcia (golfer)

Nicole Garcia (born 10 December 1990) is a South African professional golfer playing on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She was runner-up at the 2015 Lalla Meryem Cup and captained the winning team at the 2022 Aramco Team Series – London.[1]

Nicole Garcia
Personal information
Born (1990-12-10) 10 December 1990
Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Sporting nationality South Africa
ResidenceBenoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Career
CollegeUniversity of Pretoria
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)Ladies European Tour (joined 2014)
Sunshine Ladies Tour
Professional wins3
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2014, 2021, 2022
Women's British OpenCUT: 2015, 2017
Evian ChampionshipDNP

Amateur career

Garcia was born in Benoni, Gauteng to a Spanish father and British mother, and started playing golf at the age of 15. She attended the University of Pretoria and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor in Sport Sciences.[2] In 2013, Garcia won three amateur tournaments, the Free state and Northern Cape Championship, the Gauteng Central Championship, and the Gauteng North Championship.[3]

Professional career

Garcia turned professional at the end of 2013 after she finished T34 at the Lalla Aicha Tour School to earn conditional status for the 2014 Ladies European Tour, where she played in eight events and made two cuts. She returned to Q-School and finished T5, earning a full LET card for the 2015 season.[1]

Garcia placed tied second at the U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifier in Buckinghamshire, England, and played her first major in the 2014 U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst Resort.

On the LET, in 2015 she was runner-up at the Lalla Meryem Cup, two strokes behind Gwladys Nocera. In 2016 her best finish was sixth in the Qatar Ladies Open.[1] In 2017, she received media attention on her way to finish T7 in the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De España, after her wayward tee-shot hopped into the front compartment of a referee's buggy, and she holed-out for par.[4]

In 2018, Garcia suffered a serious hip and back injury, and surgery followed by rehab kept her sidelined for most of the 2019 and 2020 seasons.[5] By 2021 she had recovered and finished tied for third in the South African Women's Open, three strokes behind Lee-Anne Pace, in the process securing a spot at the 2021 U.S. Women's Open.[6]

In 2022, Garcia captained the winning team at the Aramco Team Series – London. Teamed with Kelly Whaley and Madelene Stavnar they tied on 27-under-par with a team made up of Ursula Wikström, Julia Engström and María Hernández. Garcia won the playoff against Wikström with a par on the first extra hole, the 18th hole at Centurion Club.[7]

Amateur wins
  • 2013 Free state and Northern Cape Championship, Gauteng Central Championship, Gauteng North Championship

Professional wins (3)

Sunshine Ladies Tour wins (3)

References
  1. "Nicole Garcia Player Profile". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. "Professional golfer never gives up". Benoni City Times. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  3. "Nicole Garcia Bio". Nicole Garcia Golf. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. "Nicole Garcia makes miraculous par after tee shot lands in golf buggy at Open de Espana". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. "Nicole Garcia - is 2021 her come back year?". Investec. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  6. "Pace will need her experience in US Women's Open". Sunshine Ladies Tour. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. "Law Wins Individual Title With Monster Eagle Putt As Team Garcia Triumphs At Aramco Team Series – London". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
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