Alison Nicholas, (born 6 March 1962) is an English

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Nicholas was born in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Anne (now

Abbots Bromley School for Girls Abbots Bromley School (previously the School of S. Mary and S. Anne, Abbots Bromley before becoming Abbots Bromley School for Girls) was a coeducational boarding and day independent school in the village of Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, Engla ...

). 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 The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

in the same year. She joined the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

in 1989. Nicholas won the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a women's major golf championships, major championship in Professional golf tours#Women's tours, women's professional go ...

in 1987, when it was recognised as a major championship by the Ladies European Tour only, and the

1997 U.S. Women's Open The 1997 U.S. Women's Open was the 52nd U.S. Women's Open, held July 10–13 at the Witch Hollow course of Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near North Plains, Oregon, northwest of Portland. Alison Nicholas entered the final round with a three stroke le ...

. At her retirement at the end of the 2004 season, Nicholas had won 12 events on the

. 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

, between 1995 and 1999, including winning the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for "services to women's golf", and in 2002 became a Life Member of the

. Nicholas was a member of the European

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force beh ...

team in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

forming a formidable partnership with

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

. She was Vice Captain in 2003. In 2007, Nicholas was the captain for the 2009 and 2011 European Solheim Cup teams.

Professional wins (18)

LPGA Tour wins (4)

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Ladies European Tour wins (12)

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

(2)

Weetabix Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

, Laing Charity Classic *

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

(3)

British Olivetti Tournament The British Olivetti Tournament was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in England. It was first played in 1983 in Liphook, East Hampshire and held annually until 1988, the last four installments in Sutton Cold ...

, Variety Club Charity Classic, James Capel Guernsey Open *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

(3) Lufthansa Ladies' German Open, Gislaved Open, Qualitair Classic *

(1)

Variety Club Celebrity Classic The Variety Club Celebrity Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Berkshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west ...

(1) AGF Ladies' Open de Paris *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

(1) Payne & Gunter Scottish Open *

(1) Guardian Irish Open

Other wins (2)

*1992 Western Australian Open, Malaysian Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Team appearances

Professional *

(representing Europe):

(winners),

(winners) *

Handa Cup The Handa Cup is a series of senior women's golf matches between a United States team and a World Team drawn from players from the rest of the world. It was founded in 2006 and is an event on the LPGA Legends Tour. Since 2013 it has been officially ...

(representing World team): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie), 2013 (winners), 2014

Solheim Cup record

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Alison English female golfers Gibraltarian female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Members of the Order of the British Empire The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners 1962 births Living people