Marta Figueras-Dotti (born 12 November 1957) is a retired
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
professional golfer.
Early life
Figueras-Dotti was born in Madrid and her father was the president of the Spanish Golf Association. She started playing golf at 8 years of age.
Amateur career
Figueras-Dotti represented Spain seven straight years at the
European Lady Junior's Team Championship The European Lady Junior's Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for women under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1968. It was played every year until 1984, then every second y ...
, for players up to the age of 21, 1973–1979, being on the winning team in 1975 and 1977 and also winning individually in 1977.
She won several amateur tournaments in Europe, including the Spanish Closed Amateur and the French and Italian Open Amateur Championships in the same year, 1979.
At the 1979
European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959.
It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...
, where she was part of the Spanish team, at Hermitage Golf Club, outside
Dublin, Ireland, she won the individual
stroke-play part of the competition, three strokes ahead of the nearest competitor.
She played college golf at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
, where she was an
All-American in 1982, graduating the same year.
In July 1980, she entered 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 major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...
at
Wentworth Club, England, as an amateur, lead after the first round and finished tied second one stroke behind
Debbie Massay.
She remained an amateur through the main part of the 1982 season. At the
British Ladies Amateur
The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...
in June, she was tied winner of the 36-hole stroke-play qualification, but was sent out from the tournament in the following match-play. In late July, she entered the 1982
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 ...
at
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champi ...
,
Southport, England
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
, still an amateur. Figueras-Dotti was one shot from the lead after three rounds, but took command of the tournament on the 8th hole of the final round. Despite a bogey 6 on the last hole, she won by one shot, scoring level par over 72 holes. She remains the last amateur to have won the Women's British Open, the tournament that has been recognized as an
LPGA major since 2001.
She ended her amateur career by finishing individual runner-up to
Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster (born Juli Simpson; June 24, 1960) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 29 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA ...
at the 1982
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 Fre ...
in
Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...
.
Professional career
Figueras-Dotti became the first Spanish female tournament golf professional. She failed in her first attempt to qualify for 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 week ...
at the
Qualifying 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
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
, in January 1983. Instead she started her professional career in Europe, on the
Women Professional Golfers’ European Tour, later named the
Ladies European Tour, and quickly won two tournaments in June
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
In 1984, her first year on the LPGA Tour, she tied 2nd at the
Safeco Classic
The Safeco Classic (often styled as the SAFECO Classic) was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in the Seattle area, sponsored by Safeco Insurance. It was played 18 times, from 1982 to 1999, aMeridian Valley Country Clubin Ken ...
, at Meridian Valley Country Club in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and was named the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Rookie of the Year by ''Golf Digest''.
She played 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 week ...
from 1984 to 2000. Her career earnings totaled $1,247,905.
She achieved five holes-in-one in her LPGA career, and won one tournament, the 1994
Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open.
She also won the unofficial
JCPenney Classic
The JCPenney Classic was a mixed team golf tournament sponsored by the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour. Teams consisted of one PGA Tour player and one LPGA Tour player (except in 1967 when the teams were male only). It was played in California and Flor ...
with
Brad Bryant
Bradley Dub Bryant (born December 11, 1954) is an American professional golfer.
Bryant was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of a Southern Baptist pastor. He moved with his family to Alamogordo, New Mexico during his youth. Bryant attended the U ...
in 1994.
Figueras-Dotti never got the opportunity to play in the
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 b ...
. Nevertheless, she captained the European team at the 2002
Junior Solheim Cup
The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and featu ...
, acted as a Solheim Cup team helper three times, including in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
when Europe secured their first victory on U.S. soil, and was appointed vice-captain for the
2017 Solheim Cup in
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
, by European team captain
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 intern ...
.
Private life
In 1990, she played a limited schedule after undergoing surgery for a thyroid tumor. In 1997, she played in just seven events on the LPGA Tour, due to the birth of her first child, son Nicholas Alejandro, born on June 24.
She is the Chairperson of the board of the Ladies European Tour. She runs her own golf academy in her home town Madrid, Spain. Until 2015, she was coaching the Spanish national amateur team and is, since 2016, Director of coaching at the Golf Federation of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
.
Amateur wins
*1979 Spanish Junior Championship, Spanish Closed Amateur Championship, French Open Amateur Championship, Italian Open Amateur Championship
*1982 Italian Open Amateur Championship
Professional wins (5)
LPGA Tour wins (1)
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
Ladies European Tour wins (3)
''Note: The Women's British Open was not co-sanctioned by the LPGA until 1994, and did not become an LPGA major until 2001.''
Other wins (1)
*1994
JCPenney Classic
The JCPenney Classic was a mixed team golf tournament sponsored by the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour. Teams consisted of one PGA Tour player and one LPGA Tour player (except in 1967 when the teams were male only). It was played in California and Flor ...
(with
Brad Bryant
Bradley Dub Bryant (born December 11, 1954) is an American professional golfer.
Bryant was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of a Southern Baptist pastor. He moved with his family to Alamogordo, New Mexico during his youth. Bryant attended the U ...
)
Team appearances
Amateur
*
European Lady Junior's Team Championship The European Lady Junior's Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for women under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1968. It was played every year until 1984, then every second y ...
(representing Spain): 1973, 1974, 1975 (winners), 1976, 1977 (winners), 1978
*
European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959.
It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...
(representing Spain):
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
*
Vagliano Trophy
The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in ...
(representing the Continent of Europe): 1981 (winners)
*
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 Fre ...
(representing Spain):
1978,
1980,
1982
Sources:
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Figueras-Dotti, Marta
Spanish female golfers
USC Trojans women's golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
1957 births
Living people
20th-century Spanish women
21st-century Spanish women