Karis Davidson (born 7 July 1998) 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

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 2022, she won the WPGA Melbourne International, and in 2018 she was runner-up 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

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 ...

event.

Early life and amateur career

Davidson was born in

Melrose, Scotland Melrose ( gd, Maolros, "bald moor") is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It lies within the Eildon committee area of Scottish Borders Council. History The original Melrose was ''Mailros'', mean ...

, where she started playing golf at the age of four. At the age of nine, she relocated with her family to Australia's

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

. In 2013 she was runner-up at the Greg Norman Junior Masters. In 2014, she won the Sunshine Coast Ladies Open and the GNGF Junior Masters, and was runner-up at the Australian Girls' Amateur, plus lost the final of 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 ...

to Minjee Lee. In 2015, she won the NSW Junior State Championship, and was runner-up at the Queensland Stroke Play & Amateur Championship, and the Australian Girls' Amateur. In 2016, she won the Bowra & O'Dea Women's 72 Hole Classic, the Dunes Medal, and the Australian Girls' Amateur. She represented Australia at the 2014

World Junior Girls Championship The World Junior Girls Championship (french: Championnat Mondial Junior Féminin) is an annual world amateur team golf championship for women under 18 organized in Canada. The inaugural event was held in 2014. Format The competition is open to fem ...

in Canada, the

2016 Espirito Santo Trophy The 2016 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 14–17 September at Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club and Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. It was the 27th women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the ...

in Mexico, and at the

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 na ...

, officially the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, she was a semifinalist at the

and won the

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 ...

. She was awarded the Karrie Webb Scholarship.

Professional career

Davidson turned professional in 2017 and joined the

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

in 2018, after finishing 11th at the JLPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. She spent four seasons in Japan and made $444,839 in career earnings, with career-best finish a T4 at the 2018 Century21 Ladies Golf Tournament, won by Kristen Gillman. Davidson also played on the

ALPG Tour 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 ...

, where she finished solo second behind Minjee Lee at the 2018

, a

co-sanctioned event. In 2021 she finished T3 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 ...

, and in 2022 she was runner-up again at the

, this time behind Hannah Green, having secured her first professional title at the WPGA Melbourne International a few weeks earlier. Davidson earned her

card for 2022 by finishing T41 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 ...

. In her rookie season she made 8 cuts in 11 starts and recorded a best finish of T8 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. She went to back Q-School to retain her status.

Amateur wins

*2014 GNGF Junior Masters, Sunshine Coast Ladies Open *2015 NSW Junior State Championship *2016 Bowra & O'Dea Women's 72 Hole Classic, Australian Girls' Amateur, Dunes Medal *2017

Source:

Professional wins (1)

ALPG Tour wins (1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing Australia): 2014 *

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):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

(representing Australia): 2016, 2017

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Karis Australian female golfers ALPG Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from Queensland Sportspeople from Melrose, Scottish Borders Golfers from the Scottish Borders Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Scottish emigrants to Australia 1998 births Living people