Kirsten Rudgeley (born 2001) is an Australian

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 ...

who plays on 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 2022, she won The Athena Golf Challenge on the

WPGA Tour of Australasia The WPGA Tour of Australasia, formerly known as the ALPG Tour, is a professional golf tour for women which is based in Australia. WPGA stands for Women's Professional Golfers' Association. The tour was founded as the Ladies Professional Golf Associ ...

Early life and amateur career

Rudgeley was born in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and relocated with her family to

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

when she was four. Her father introduced her to golf when she was 7 years old, but she didn't consider herself a serious golfer until she represented Western Australia at age 14. Domestically, Rudgeley was runner-up at the 2020

Riversdale Cup The Riversdale Cup is the second oldest amateur golf tournament in Australia. It is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event has been played since 1896 and is organised by and played at the Riversdale Golf Club in Mount Waverley, Victoria ...

and won the Port Phillip Open Amateur, Victorian Amateur, North Shore Classic and the Rene Erichsen Salver, plus the Western Australia Amateur three times. In 2021, she won the

Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Championship The Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship is the national women's amateur stroke play golf championship in Scotland (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually at Royal Troon since 1973 an ...

and the

English Women's Amateur Championship The English Women's Amateur Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of England. It was first played in 1912 and is currently organised by England Golf. The English Women's Amateur Championship is contested thro ...

, before qualifying for the

2021 Women's British Open The 2021 AIG Women's British Open was played from 19 to 22 August in Scotland at Carnoustie Golf Links. It was the 45th Women's British Open, the 21st as a major championship on the LPGA Tour, and the second championship held under a sponsorship ...

Carnoustie Golf Links Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie G ...

in Scotland, her first major. She was also runner-up at the

Australian Women's Amateur The Australian Women's Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It was first played in 1894 and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, it became a 72-hole stroke play event in 2021, h ...

and finished second behind Su Oh at the

TPS Victoria The Players Series, titled as the Webex Players Series for sponsorship reasons, is a series of professional golf tournaments played in Australia with men and women competing in the same field, although they play from different tees. The series beg ...

, a

event. She finished in a tie for seventh at the

Women's Victorian Open The Women's Victorian Open is an annual golf tournament held in Australia. It was founded in 1988 and played annually through 1992. After a 20-year hiatus it returned in 2012 as a tournament on the WPGA Tour of Australasia. This was the first ...

, a

event, and received the

Golf Australia Golf Australia is the governing body for the sport of golf in Australia, formed in 2006 after the Australian Golf Union (AGU) and Women's Golf Australia (WGA) agreed to merge.

Women's Order of Merit award for 2021. Rudgeley beat Grace Kim in the final to win The Athena Golf Challenge amongst a field of professionals on the 2022 WPGA Tour of Australasia. She was Australia's sole representative at the 2022

Augusta National Women's Amateur The Augusta National Women's Amateur (ANWA) is a golf tournament in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, Augusta and Champions Retreat Golf Club in nearby Evans, Georgia, Evans. stroke play eve ...

, where she finished 8th. She received the Karrie Webb Scholarship for the second straight year, as Australia's leading female amateur. She recorded a career high of 24th in the

World Amateur Golf Rankings The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs ...

Professional career

Rudgeley turned professional after earning her

card for 2023 by finishing T9 at

Q-School In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

Amateur wins

*2017 Western Australia Amateur *2019 Western Australia Amateur *2020 Western Australia Amateur, Port Phillip Open Amateur and

Victorian Women's Amateur Championship The Victorian Women's Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of Victoria, Australia. It has been played annually since 1900, except for the war years. Format The event is a match play tournament. In 2021 and 2022 there were ...

*2021 Rene Erichsen Salver, North Shore Classic,

*2022 Avondale Amateur Source:

Professional wins (1)

WPGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Team appearances

Amateur *Australian Girls' Interstate Teams Matches (representing Western Australia): 2017, 2018 *

Australian Women's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Women's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for women between the states of Australia. From 1933 it was contested for the Gladys Hay Memorial Cup. The final format was a round-robin tournament, each team ...

(representing Western Australia): 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 *

Junior Golf World Cup The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup ( ja, 世界ジュニアゴルフ推進会) is an annual world amateur team golf championship for youths under 18 organized in Japan with Toyota Motor Corporation as title sponsor. The inaugural event for boys was h ...

(representing Australia): 2019 *

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

(representing Australia):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Queen Sirikit Cup The Queen Sirikit Cup, officially the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, is an annual amateur team golf championship for women organised by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. The inaugural event was held in 1979. The event is nam ...

(representing Australia): 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudgeley, Kirsten Australian female golfers European Tour golfers ALPG Tour golfers Sportspeople from Western Australia English emigrants to Australia 2001 births Living people