Laurette Maritz (born 13 January 1964) is a South African

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 ...

. She won three titles 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 ...

between 1988 and 1990, and was

LET Rookie of the Year 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 str ...

in 1988.

Early life and amateur career

Maritz grew up in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

and started playing golf when she was 11. Consumed by the sport, she quit high school after the 11th grade. Playing on the South African National Team, she won tournaments in Europe, and she was thinking about turning professional. After meeting

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 ...

player

Sally Little Sally Little (born 12 October 1951) is a South African-born professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1971 and won 15 LPGA Tour events, including two major championship, during her career. In 2016, she became the first female ...

in 1983 she accepted a golf scholarship to

United States International University United States International University (USIU) was a nonprofit university based in San Diego, California that was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At its peak, it had two additional American campuses and three interna ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, where she earned All-American honors four times and a BA in Physical Education. She was a 1987

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

nominee.

Professional career

Maritz turned professional after graduating in 1987 and joined the

in 1988. She enjoyed immediate success, and won the season opener, the Marbella Ladies Open, 3 strokes before

Dale Reid Dale Reid (born 20 March 1959) is a Scottish professional golfer from Ladybank, Fife. She is 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 ...

and

Corinne Dibnah Corinne Dibnah (born 29 July 1962) is an Australian professional golfer. Dibnah played on the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour (LET). She won the 1991 LET Order of Merit after winning three tour events that year. Amateur wins *1981 A ...

. She also won the EMS Masters in Portugal in her third start, to capture the

title. She was runner-up at the

TEC Players Championship The TEC Players Championship was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour (LET). The tournament was held annually between 1988 and 1990 at various venues in England England is a country that is part of the Unite ...

at Patshull Park G&CC in England both in 1989 and 1990. In 1990 she won her third title, the

Laing Ladies Charity Classic The Laing Ladies Charity Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland ...

Stoke Poges Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common. Etymology In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (p ...

in England, and was runner-up in the

Ladies German Open The Ladies German Open was a professional golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does ...

at Wörthsee Golf Club in Bavaria. Maritz also recorded runner-up finishes at the 1991

Spanish Classic The Spanish Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held at La Manga Club in Spain between 1989 and 1992. Winners Source: See also *La Manga Spanish Open LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the sec ...

and the 2013

Ladies Norwegian Challenge The Ladies Norwegian Challenge was a professional golf tournament on the Swedish Golf Tour and the LET Access Series, held in Norway. Winners See also *Ladies Norwegian Open The Ladies Norwegian Open is a professional golf tournament on the S ...

. She also emerged as runner-up to

Karen Lunn Karen Marie Lunn (born 21 March 1966) is an Australian professional golfer. She turned professional in 1985 and has spent much of her career on the Ladies European Tour, where she has won several tournaments including a Women's British Open titl ...

at the

Open de France Dames The Open de France Dames is a women's professional golf tournament in France on the Ladies European Tour. It has been played annually since 1987, with four exceptions: 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1998. Since the 2011 edition, Lacoste has been the tit ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. In 2007, she tied for 3rd at the Northern Ireland Ladies Open. Maritz represented

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

at the

Women's World Cup of Golf The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...

each year from 2005 to 2008. In addition to the LET, Maritz played on the South African tour, where she won several tournaments including the

South African Women's Open The South African Women's Open is a golf tournament. It was first played in 1988, is sanctioned by the Women's PGA of South Africa and is played as part of the Sunshine Ladies Tour. The tournament has been co-sanctioned by the Ladies European T ...

, South African Ladies Masters, Pam Golding Ladies International and Telkom Women's Classic.

Professional wins (10)

Ladies European Tour wins (3)

Ladies African Tour wins (7)

Source:

Results in LPGA majors

''Maritz only played in the Women's British Open.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

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 South Africa):

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Professional *

Praia d'El Rey European Cup The Praia d'El Rey European Cup was an annual professional golf tournament played at Praia d'El Rey, Portugal. It was played in 1997, 1998 and 1999 between teams of men representing the European Seniors Tour and ladies representing the Ladies Europ ...

(representing the Ladies European Tour): 1997 *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

References

External links

*
Profile at WPGA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritz, Laurette South African female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers United States International University alumni Golfers from Johannesburg 1964 births Living people