Duration | May 1981 – October 1981 |
---|---|
Number of official events | 18 |
Order of Merit | Jenny Lee Smith |
← 1980 1982 → |
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 1981 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]
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]
Major championship in bold.
The Order of Merit was sponsored by Hambro Life and based on prize money won throughout the season. [4]
Place | Player | Money (£) | Events |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jenny Lee Smith | 13,518 | 11 |
2 | Cathy Panton | 8,410 | |
3 | Muriel Thomson | 8,143 | 13 |
4 | Dale Reid | 7,321 | |
5 | Beverly Lewis | 6,534 | |
6 | Christine Langford | 5,290 | |
7 | Mickey Walker | 4,844 | |
8 | Jane Chapman | 4,583 | |
9 | Maxine Burton | 4,120 | |
10 | Sue Latham | 4,118 |
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania.
The Women's Open is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour as a major. The reigning champion is Lydia Ko, who won at the 2024 tournament.
Neil Chapman Coles, MBE is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors tournaments between 1985 and 2002, winning his final European Seniors Tour event at the age of 67. He also played in eight Ryder Cup matches between 1961 and 1977.
The Genesis Scottish Open is a professional golf tournament in Scotland, and is one of five tournaments that are part of the Rolex Series, which identifies it as one of the European Tour's premier events. It has been played on various courses, but in recent years it has been played on a links course, appealing to players who wish to gain experience before The Open, which takes place in the following week.
Brian William Barnes was a Scottish professional golfer. He won nine times on the European Tour between 1972 and 1981, and twice won the Senior British Open.
Peter Arthur Oosterhuis was an English professional golfer and broadcaster. He played on the European circuit from 1969 to 1974, winning 10 tournaments and taking the Harry Vardon Trophy for heading the Order of Merit for four consecutive seasons from 1971 to 1974. From 1975 he played on the PGA Tour, winning the Canadian Open in 1981. Oosterhuis was twice runner-up in the Open Championship, in 1974 and 1982. Later he became a golf analyst on TV, initially in Europe and then in the United States. In 2015, he announced that he had Alzheimer's disease.
The Greater Manchester Open was a professional golf tournament which was played annually from 1975 to 1981. It was a European Tour event from 1976. It was held at Wilmslow Golf Club in Wilmslow, Cheshire, just to the south of Manchester. Three of the six winners were from the Republic of Ireland, and a fourth, Mark McNulty, became an Irish citizen many years later. In 1981 the prize fund was £40,000, which was the third smallest on the European Tour that season.
Dale Reid was a Scottish professional golfer. She was one of the most successful players in the history of the Ladies European Tour, with 21 tournament victories. She topped the Order of Merit in 1984 and 1987 and was made a life member of the tour after collecting her 20th title at the 1991 Ford Classic. She played for Europe in the first four Solheim Cups and was Europe's non-playing captain in 2000 and 2002.
Brian George Charles Huggett, was a Welsh professional golfer. He won 16 events on the European circuit between 1962 and 1978, including two after the formal start of the European Tour in 1972. In 1968 he won the Harry Vardon Trophy for leading the Order of Merit and he was in third place in 1969, 1970 and 1972. He won 10 times on the European Seniors Tour between 1992 and 2000, including the 1998 Senior British Open.
The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the News of the World, and was commonly known by the paper's name. Initially organised as the championship of British professionals, the event came to include invited players from other countries – in particular from around the Commonwealth. On occasion, American professionals also took part, notably in 1949 when eight members of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup side accepted invites to the event, Lloyd Mangrum reaching the semi-finals.
The 1984 European Tour, titled as the 1984 PGA European Tour, was the 13th season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972.
The Woodlawn International Invitational was a men's professional golf tournament held at Woodlawn Golf Course on the Ramstein Air Base, near Ramstein-Miesenbach in West Germany between 1958 and 1968. It was usually held the week following the German Open and, until its final year, had one of the highest prize funds in Continental Europe sponsored by the United States Air Force.
The Safari Circuit, or Safari Tour, was a small professional golf tour based in West and East Africa that ran from the 1970s through into the 1990s. From 1977, the tour was organised by the PGA European Tour and from 1991 the tournaments were included on the second-tier Challenge Tour schedule.
The 1985 Ladies European Tour was a series of golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world which took place in 1985. The tournaments were sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET).
The 1984 Ladies European Tour was the fifth season of golf tournaments administered by the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) on behalf of the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET).
The 1983 Ladies European Tour was the fifth season of golf tournaments organised on behalf of the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET). There were 17 tournaments on the schedule.
The 1982 Ladies European Tour was the fourth season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET). There were ten tournaments on the schedule including the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.
The 1980 Ladies European Tour was the second season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET). The tour was principally sponsored by Carlsberg, who organised ten 36-hole tournaments counting towards their own Order of Merit. There were eleven other tournaments on the schedule including the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.
The 1979 Ladies European Tour was the inaugural season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET). The tour was principally sponsored by Carlsberg, who organised 12 36-hole tournaments counting towards their own Order of Merit. There were six other tournaments on the schedule including the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.
The Moben Kitchens Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour. It was played between 1980 and 1982 at The Mere Resort in England.