Alison Nicholas, (born 6 March 1962) is an English

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 ...

Amateur career

Nicholas was born in Gibraltar. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Anne (now

Abbots Bromley School for Girls Abbots Bromley School (previously the School of S. Mary and S. Anne, Abbots Bromley before becoming Abbots Bromley School for Girls) was a coeducational boarding and day independent school in the village of Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, Eng ...

). She enjoyed a very successful amateur career in England. She started playing golf at the age of 17 and won the 1982 and 1983 Northern Girls Amateur Open. Nicholas was the 1983 British Amateur Stroke Play champion. In 1983, Nicholas won the Yorkshire Ladies County Championship.

Professional career

Nicholas turned professional in 1984 and joined 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 str ...

in the same year. She joined 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 wee ...

in 1989. Nicholas won 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 Tour ...

in 1987, when it was recognised as a major championship by the Ladies European Tour only, and the 1997 U.S. Women's Open. At her retirement at the end of the 2004 season, Nicholas had won 12 events on the

. She topped the European Tour Order of Merit in 1997 and finished in the top-10 15 times in 16 seasons between 1985 and 2000. She also won four times on the

, between 1995 and 1999, including winning the U.S. Women's Open in 1997. In 1992, she won both the Western Australian Open and the Malaysian Open. She won the 1991 Vivien Saunders Trophy for lowest stroke average (71.71). In 1997, she became the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year, was awarded The Association of Golf Writers Trophy and was voted LET Players' Player of the Year, 1997 Evening Mail Sports Personality of the Year and 1997 Midlands Sports Personality of the Year. In 1998, she was named a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for "services to women's golf", and in 2002 became a Life Member of the

. Nicholas was a member of the European

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 ...

team in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

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 s ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

forming a formidable partnership with

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

. She was Vice Captain in 2003. In 2007, Nicholas was the captain for the 2009 and 2011 European Solheim Cup teams.

Professional wins (18)

LPGA Tour wins (4)

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Ladies European Tour wins (12)

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

(2)

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 Tour ...

Laing 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 t ...

* 1988 (3) British Olivetti Tournament,

Variety Club Charity Classic The Variety Club Celebrity Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic cou ...

, James Capel Guernsey Open *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

(3) Lufthansa Ladies' German Open, Gislaved Open, Qualitair Classic *

(1) Variety Club Celebrity Classic *

(1) AGF Ladies' Open de Paris *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

(1) Payne & Gunter Scottish Open *

(1)

Guardian Irish Open The Women's Irish Open is a professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour (LET), held in the Republic of Ireland. The tournament became part of the LET schedule in 1994 and ran for ten editions through 2003. After a four-year hiatus ...

Other wins (2)

*1992 Western Australian Open, Malaysian Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Team appearances

Professional *

(representing Europe):

(winners),

(winners) *

Handa Cup The Handa Cup is a series of senior women's golf matches between a United States team and a World Team drawn from players from the rest of the world. It was founded in 2006 and is an event on the LPGA Legends Tour. Since 2013 it has been officially ...

(representing World team): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie), 2013 (winners), 2014

Solheim Cup record

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Alison English female golfers Gibraltarian female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Members of the Order of the British Empire The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners 1962 births Living people