Beverly Lewis (1947–2019) was a British professional

golfer Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of the Women's Professional Golf Association (WPGA), later the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

(LET), and became the first female captain of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, in 1947. She took up golf at the age of 18, learning the game on a local

pitch and putt Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are normally used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, before ...

course. Within four years, she became the Essex Ladies Amateur Champion and joined Thorndon Park Golf Club, where she remained a lifelong member.

Career

Lewis turned professional in 1978 and became a founder member of the Women's PGA, later the LET. She chaired the Women's PGA between 1979 and 1981, and again in 1986. She played on the WPGA tour for eight years, winning two tournaments. In 1982, she became one of the first women to attain PGA membership and was one of just two women to achieve PGA Master Professional status. After her playing career, Lewis focused on coaching, working with the English Ladies’ Golf Association, county teams, and players of all abilities. She served as a PGA Professional at several Essex clubs, including JJB Golf Centre (

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

), Langdon Hills Golf Club ( Bulphan), Garon Park Golf Complex (

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

), and Brentwood Park Golf Club ( Brentwood). She was also a lecturer and a qualified R&A referee. Lewis was a regular contributor to ''

Golf World ''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. After that, ''Golf World'' was available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...

'' magazine in the UK and served as the only woman on their teaching panel for six years. She authored or co-authored at least ten books on golf, including instructional series and ''Improve Your Golf''. She also worked as a broadcaster, providing commentary for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Channel 7 (Australia), and

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. In 2005, Lewis became the first female captain in the 104-year history of the PGA (UK), representing the Association at major golf events including

The Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

and the US Masters. The Beverly Lewis Trophy, awarded to the foremost female PGA Assistant of the Year, is named in her honour.

Personal life

Lewis was married to Ken Lewis, an artist and collaborator on her published works. Her interests included music and playing the organ. She died in 2019 at the age of 71 from leukaemia.

Professional wins (2)

Ladies European Tour wins (2)

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Volvo International Tournament *

1983 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 of the ...

Middlesbrough Municipal Ladies Classic

Selected bibliography

* ''Shots For Lower Scoring'' (1988) * ''Play Better Golf'' (1990) * ''Power Driving: Swing on the Right Track'' (1988) * ''Golf For Women'' (1990) * ''How to Break 90: The Mental and Tactical Approach'' * ''Winning Golf for Women'' * ''Curing Hooks and Slices: Straighten the Curving Shots'' * ''Golf Clinic Play Better Golf'' (1998) * ''Cómo jugar al golf'' (2002) * ''Curing Common Faults: Remedy Those Costly Shots''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Beverly English female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Golf writers Sportspeople from Essex 1947 births 2019 deaths