Deb Richard (born June 13, 1963) is an American former professional golfer who was a member of 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 ...

for twenty years during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Amateur career

Richard was born in

Abbeville, Louisiana Abbeville is a city in, and the parish seat of, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, west of New Orleans and southwest of Baton Rouge. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census. At the 2020 population estimates program, the populati ...

in 1963, and raised in

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 c ...

. She first found success as an amateur golfer by winning the Kansas state high school golf championship three consecutive years for Manhattan High School (1979–1981). She followed by winning the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Women's Amateur the next two years (1982, 1983). In 1984, Richard won the prestigious U.S. Women's Amateur; a few months later she was part of the U.S. team that won the Espirito Santo Trophy in Hong Kong. While competing for coach Mimi Ryan's Florida Gators women's golf team at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 1982 to 1985, she won seven tournaments including three consecutive

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) individual championships. As a senior in 1985, she was the individual runner-up, by a single stroke, at the NCAA Women's Golf Championship, was recognized as the SEC Golfer of the Year, and won the Broderick Award as the nation's outstanding female collegiate golfer. Richard was a first-team All-SEC selection all four years (1982–1985) and a first-team All-American in 1984 and 1985. She graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in advertising in 1989, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1995.Antonya English,
Carlson calls UF induction top thrill
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', pp. 1 & 6 (April 7, 1995). Retrieved July 23, 2011.

Professional career

Richard played on the LPGA Tour for twenty years (1986–2005), during which she won five Tour events and finished in the top-10 in over seventy events. Her five wins included the 1987 Rochester International, 1991 Women's Kemper Open, 1991 The Phar-Mor in Youngstown, 1994

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 ...

and 1997 Friendly's Classic. Her best finishes in the LPGA majors included a tie for tenth place in the 1996 Kraft Nabisco Championship, a tie for fifth in the 1991 LPGA Championship, a tie for ninth in the 1986 U.S. Women's Open, and ties for fourth in the 1988 and 1998 du Maurier Classic. In 1992, Richard was selected for the U.S.

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 ...

team. Her career earning as a professional golfer totaled $2,759,551. Richard has been inducted into the Kansas Golf Hall of Fame. She has also received a number of awards for her charitable activities.

Professional wins (6)

LPGA Tour wins (5)

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

Other wins (1)

*1991 JBP Cup LPGA Match Play Championship

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur * Espirito Santo Trophy:

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 ...

(winners) Professional *

: 1992

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Deb American female golfers Florida Gators women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Solheim Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Louisiana Golfers from Kansas People from Abbeville, Louisiana Sportspeople from Manhattan, Kansas 1963 births Living people