Penny B. Grice-Whittaker ( Grice, 11 October 1964) is a former English golfer turned singer. As an amateur golfer, Grice-Whittaker won multiple events in England and was a bronze medalist for the Great Britain and Ireland team at the

1984 Espirito Santo Trophy The 1984 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 30 October – 2 November at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fonling, Hong Kong. It was the 11th women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play ...

. She also participated at the Curtis Cup that year for Great Britain before turning professional in 1985. As a professional golfer, Grice-Whittaker won her first

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 at the 1986

Belgian Ladies Godiva Open The Belgian Ladies Open is a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Belgium. The tournament was played annually 1985–1995. It was known as the Godiva Ladies European Masters 1988–1989 and the BMW European Ma ...

. She later won additional LET events in 1991 at the

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 ...

and Longines Classic. On the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour, Grice-Whittaker won the 1992 Hisiki Ladies Queensland Open. After retiring from golf in 1998, Grice-Whittaker became a member of the female musical duo Bits-n-Pieces in the early 2000s.

Early life

In 1964, Grice-Whittaker was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She began to play golf when she was thirteen.

Amateur career

Grice-Whittaker began her amateur career as a runnerup at the 1981

Girls Amateur Championship The Girls Amateur Championship is a golf tournament held annually in the United Kingdom. Girls need to be under 18 on 1 January in the year of the championship. Until World War II the championship was organised by a series of magazines and always ...

. As an amateur, Grice-Whittaker won her first amateur events in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

between 1981 and 1983. At events held by

England Golf England Golf is the governing body for male and female amateur golf in England. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, the joint global governing body of golf. It was formed in 2012 as a merg ...

, Grice-Whittaker won the 1983 English Girls' Open Championship and the 1984 English Women's Strokeplay. In amateur team events held in 1984, Grice-Whittaker was a participant at the Curtis Cup and a bronze medalist at the

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 ...

for the Great Britain and Ireland team.

Professional career

After turning professional in 1985, Grice-Whittaker played on the

. Her first win was at the 1986

Belgian Ladies Open The Belgian Ladies Open is a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Belgium. The tournament was played annually 1985–1995. It was known as the Godiva Ladies European Masters 1988–1989 and the BMW European Ma ...

with a course record of seventeen under par. During the 1990s, additional European wins for Grice-Whittaker came at the 1991

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 ...

and the 1991 Longines Classic. Outside of the LET, Grice-Whittaker won the 1992 Hisiki Ladies Queensland Open on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour.

Private life

In 1998, Grice-Whittaker ended her golf career to become a singer. In the early 2000s, she started singing as a member of the female musical duo Bits-n-Pieces. On 8 October 2021, Grice-Whittaker appeared on The Chase. Chaser Paul Sinha remarked that she was the first person he'd faced on the show with a bigger Wikipedia entry than he had - aside from the Celebrity edition.

Professional wins (4)

Ladies European Tour wins (3)

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, Longines Classic

ALPG Tour wins (1)

*1992 Hisiki Ladies Queensland Open

Team appearances

Amateur * European Lady Junior's Team Championship (representing England): 1982, 1983 (winners), 1984, 1986 * Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1984 *

(representing Great Britain and Ireland):

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 Southeast A ...

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 England):

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 Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

* Women's Home Internationals (representing England): 1983, 1984 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grice-Whittaker, Penny 1964 births Living people English female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers English women pop singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Sportspeople from Sheffield Musicians from Sheffield