Cassandra Kirkland (13 October 1984 – 30 April 2017) was a French

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 ...

. She played on 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 ...

and won the

Sanya Ladies Open The Sanya Ladies Open was a golf tournament co-sanctioned by the China LPGA Tour, Ladies Asian Golf Tour and the Ladies European Tour from 2010 to 2017. It was played at the Yalong Bay Golf Club in Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, ...

in 2012.

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to an American father and French mother, Kirkland studied at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

from 2002 to 2006. She was related to American racing car driver

Eddie Cheever Edward McKay Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to , CART between 1986 and 1995, and IndyCar between 1996 and 2006. In American open-wheel racing ...

Amateur career

Kirkland played golf from the age of seven and was semi-finalist in the

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 ...

in 2001. As a member of the

Arizona Wildcats women's golfers Arizona is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and s ...

at University of Arizona, she won the UNLV Invitational and was a member of the NGCA All American Team in 2005. She was All-PAC 10 Team and won the Golfstat award for par-five scoring leader in 2004 and 2005.

Professional career

Kirkland turned professional in 2006 and won twice: the 2012

in China on the

and the 2013 Fourqueux Ladies Open near Paris on the

LET Access Series The LET Access Series (LETAS) is a professional golf tour for women and the official development tour to the Ladies European Tour. Launched in 2010, the LET Access Series provides players with an opportunity to compete and progress on to the Ladi ...

Death

Kirkland died in 2017 at the age of 32, following a two-year fight against cancer. She was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in April 2015, despite never having smoked and having led the lifestyle of a healthy, professional athlete.

Professional wins (2)

Ladies European Tour (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the Ladies Asian Golf Tour.

LET Access Series (1)

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Fourqueux Ladies Open

Team appearances

Amateur

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 pl ...

(representing France):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Cassandra French female golfers Arizona Wildcats women's golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Golfers from Paris Deaths from lung cancer in France 1984 births 2017 deaths 20th-century French women 21st-century French sportswomen