Chiara Noja (born 16 March 2006) is a German

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. 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 ...

. She turned professional in October 2021 at age 15. On 5 June 2022, Noja secured her maiden professional win at the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge by 9 strokes. Six months later she became the youngest professional winner on the

(LET), capturing the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah on 12 November 2022.

Early life

Noja was born in 2006 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and emigrated to England at the age of seven. Since 2020 she lives with her parents in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Amateur career

Noja showed her talent for the game in a very young age with winning several tournaments. Becoming a single-digit handicap golfer by 9, a scratch golfer by 12, and at 13 she topped the European rankings in the under-14 age group. Following her tied-ninth finish at the 2020 Women's Amateur Championship, she made her

(LET) debut as a 14-year-old at the 2020 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic. In 2021, due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

travel restrictions, Noja started playing on the LET Access Series to replace the amateur events she couldn't travel to. She finished 8th at the 2021

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

and led the Golf Flanders LETAS Trophy in Antwerp, Belgium ahead of the final round, but shot a 73 and finished runner-up behind Lily May Humphreys.

Professional career

Noja turned professional in October 2021 (with a handicap of +7.4), at 15 years old after she received sponsor invitations to the Dubai Moonlight Classic, Aramco Saudi Ladies International, and the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah, missing none of the cuts. She was ineligible to attend LET Qualifying School in December 2021, as she did not meet the tour's minimum age requirement of 16. However, she received sponsor invitations to the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and all five

Aramco Team Series The Aramco Team Series is a professional women's golf competition that is part of the Ladies European Tour (LET), first played in 2020. The inaugural tournament was played as the Saudi Ladies Team International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Clu ...

events of 2022.

2022: First wins

Noja began her 2022 season at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where she finished 13th, followed by a second place at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open. She recorded her maiden professional win at the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge in June 2022, after shooting rounds of 65-68-71 for a 9 stroke victory, and rose to the top of the LET Access Series Order of Merit. After 1 win, 2 seconds, 3 thirds and 4 fourth to tenth places, missing none of the cuts in 13 LET Access Series events on 16 September, Noja secured her LET Tour card for the 2023 season by finishing second on the Order of Merit. Noja won her first

(LET) title on 12 November 2022 by winning the

(individual event) at

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. She defeated

Charley Hull Charley Esmee Hull (born 20 March 1996) is an English professional golfer who has won tournaments on both the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour. Aged 9, Hull won the Ladies Golf Union Championship, playing against adults. She went o ...

on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff after both players finished regulation play at −13. She finished the season ninth for lowest stroke average and first for the average driving distance in the LET Rankings.

2023: Continued success

Noja began her 2023 season in February 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 Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Mohammed VI. It was held in Rabat until it moved to Agadir in 2011. It moved back to Rabat in 2016. The ...

where she finished 11th, followed by a 12th place at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International where she won her biggest-ever career prize money of $102,500 with rounds of 71-70-65-70 (−12), including three eagles. On 8 March, Noja broke the course record at the LET South African Women's Open at Steenberg Golf Club in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Her round of 62, ten under par, was the lowest in her professional career. She finished the tournament in third place with rounds of 62-71-69-69 (−17). On 9 June, Noja played her first LPGA tournament after receiving a sponsor's exemption for the

ShopRite LPGA Classic The ShopRite LPGA Classic, known in full for sponsorship reasons as The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in Galloway, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. It took place annually fro ...

and finished tied for 12th.

Professional wins (2)

Ladies European Tour wins (1)

Ladies European Tour playoff record (1–0)

LET Access Series wins (1)

World ranking

Position in

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by 12 women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPG ...

at the end of each calendar year.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noja, Chiara German female golfers 2006 births Living people 21st-century German sportswomen