Sophie Sandolo (born 20 July 1976) is an Italian

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 ...

Amateur career

Sandolo was born

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. She began playing golf at 14 and made the Italian national team by the age of 16. She was Regional All-American while playing for the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She won the

European Ladies Amateur Championship The European Ladies Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is organized by the European Golf Association and is one of the "elite" tournaments recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The championship was first played in ...

in 1999 after being runner up in 1998. She also played on the Italian

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 ...

team in 1996 and 1998, the team finishing in second place on both occasions.

Professional career

She won her first professional event in 2006 at the

Lalla Meryem Cup The Lalla Meryem Cup is a women's professional golf tournament in Morocco under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. It was held in Rabat until it moved to Agadir in 2011. It moved back to Rabat in 2016. The tournament has been pl ...

in Morocco. Her highest finish on the

was 2nd at the 200
Catalonia Ladies Masters
Her highest finish on the LET Order of Merit was 15th, also in 2005.

Modelling

Sandolo earned notoriety by publishing a calendar in 200

in which she posed nudity, semi-nude. She has continued to release the calendar every year since. On the topic of the calendar, Sandolo has said, "My first sexy calendar is intended to represent my love for golf, my desire for freedom and a touch of

coquetry Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement. It ...

and I’m instinctively attracted by fashion, elegance and glamour." She is often invited on TV shows. She participated in a reality show called The Big Break: Ka'anapali on the Golf Channel.

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Girls' Team Championship The European Girls' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women up to 18 organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1991. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1991 to 1999 and has bee ...

(representing Italy): 1993 *

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 Italy):

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

(representing Italy):

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandolo, Sophie Italian female golfers UCLA Bruins women's golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Nice French sportspeople of Italian descent 1976 births Living people