1981 Ladies European Tour

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The 1981 Ladies European Tour was the third season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET).[1] There were 13 tournaments on the schedule including four Carlsberg sponsored events and the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.

For the 1982 season, the majority of tournaments were increased to 54-holes, having previously been held over 36-holes. This included the Carlsberg events, which were reduced in number, from ten down to four, in order to increase the prize funds at each event. Total prize money on the tour was planned to rise to £250,000 in 1981,[2] but the tour suffered financially during the season as several tournaments were cancelled after sponsors withdrew their support.[3]

The Order of Merit was won by Jenny Lee Smith, who dominated the season with three wins and four runner-up finishes; her £13,518 in prize money put her more than £5,000 clear of runner-up Cathy Panton.[4] The Carlsberg European Championship overall title was won by Panton, who won two of the four events.[5]

Tournaments[]

The table below shows the 1981 schedule.[6] The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the Ladies European Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for members of the tour.[7]

Date Tournament Location Winner Score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)–up Winner's
share (£)		 Ref
1 May Carlsberg Championship – St Pierre Wales England Mickey Walker (3) 222 (+6) 2 strokes England 1,500 [8]
11 May England England Jenny Lee Smith (6) 72 (−1) 2 strokes England
Scotland Cathy Panton		 600 [9]
22 May Carlsberg Championship – Queen's Park England Scotland Cathy Panton (4) 223 (+1) 1 stroke England 1,500 [10]
30 May Smirnoff Ulster Open Northern Ireland United States (1) 228 (E) Playoff England 600 [11]
6 Jun United Friendly Tournament England United States (2) 220 (+7) 8 strokes Australia
Scotland Cathy Panton		 [12]
19 Jun Carlsberg Championship – Moortown England Scotland Cathy Panton (5) 213 (−9) 3 strokes England Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 [13]
28 Jun Volvo International Tournament Sweden England (1) 147 (+5) 3 strokes Sweden Kärstin Ehrnlund
3 Jul McEwan's Lager Welsh Classic Wales England Jenny Lee Smith (7) 216 (E) 2 strokes Scotland Muriel Thomson 1,500 [14]
24 Jul Elizabeth Ann Classic England Scotland Muriel Thomson (4) 293 (+1) 1 stroke England Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 [15]
1 Aug Women's British Open England United States Debbie Massey (n/a) 295 (−1) 4 strokes Scotland Belle Robertson (a) 5,600 [16]
8 Aug Ladies Irish Open Ireland Cancelled [3]
14 Aug Carlsberg Championship – Gleneagles England Scotland Dale Reid (2) 219 1 stroke England Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 [5]
21 Aug Hitachi WPGA Championship England Cancelled [3]
13 Sep Moben Kitchens Classic England Scotland Dale Reid (3) 213 (−6) 6 strokes England Jenny Lee Smith 900 [17]
18 Sep Barnham Broom Championship England Cancelled [3]
17 Oct Lambert & Butler Matchplay England England Jenny Lee Smith (8) 3 and 2 England 3,000 [18]

Major championship in bold.

Order of Merit[]

The Order of Merit was sponsored by Hambro Life and based on prize money won throughout the season.[4]

# Player Money (£) Events
1 England Jenny Lee Smith 13,518 11
2 Scotland Cathy Panton 8,410
3 Scotland Muriel Thomson 8,143 13
4 Scotland Dale Reid 7,321
5 England 6,534
6 England 5,290
7 England Mickey Walker 4,844
8 England 4,583
9 England 4,120
10 England 4,118

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ LET Tour Guide 2013. Ladies European Tour. 2013. p. 195.
  2. ^ Plumridge, Christopher (9 December 1980). "Women's circuit is booming". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Hennessy, John (17 March 1981). "Bleak prspect of drop in prize money for women". The Times. p. 11. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ a b Hennessy, John (20 October 1981). "Miss Lee keeps her bank manager happy". The Times. p. 23. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  5. ^ a b "Reid wins — Panton champion". Glasgow Herald. 15 August 1981. p. 18. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  6. ^ Past Tournament Winners, Ladies European Tour[permanent dead link], GolfToday
  7. ^ Ladies European Tour – 1981 Winners
  8. ^ "Miss Walker uses U.S. experience". Glasgow Herald. 2 May 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "New stance suits Miss Lee-Smith". Glasgow Herald. 12 May 1981. p. 29. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  10. ^ "Cathy is home with steady 77". Glasgow Herald. 23 May 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  11. ^ Hennessy, John (1 June 1981). "Miss Langford drives out". The Times. p. 8. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  12. ^ "Miss Panton second—but eight behind". Glasgow Herald. 8 June 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  13. ^ "Fifth win for Miss Panton". Glasgow Herald. 20 June 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ "Classic ace for Muriel". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 4 July 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "Muriel takes the low road". Glasgow Herald. 25 July 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ "Debbie pulls away from the field". Glasgow Herald. 3 August 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  17. ^ "Runaway victory for Dale Reid". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 14 September 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ "Sports briefs from home and abroad | Golf". Glasgow Herald. 19 October 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.

External links[]

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