Monique Smit (born 26 February 1991) is a South African

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 ...

playing 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 ...

(LET). She was runner-up at the 2020

South African Women's Open The South African Women's Open is a golf tournament. It was first played in 1988, is sanctioned by the Women's PGA of South Africa and is played as part of the Sunshine Ladies Tour. The tournament has been co-sanctioned by the Ladies European T ...

and won the 2020 Sunshine Ladies Tour Order of Merit.

Amateur career

Smit had a championship-winning amateur career including four titles on the 2005 Ernie Els Junior Tour and was a two-time Gus Ackermann Champion, in 2010 and 2011. She won the Western Province Stroke Play Championship in 2008 and 2011. She joined the National Team and represented South Africa internationally from the age of 15 including at the 2008

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

and the 2008 All Africa Challenge Trophy, where she was the individual winner. She won titles on three different continents, having triumphed at the Jakarta World Junior Championship and Gosh Leinster Championship in Ireland.

Professional career

Smit turned professional in 2012 and joined the LET. She secured her first professional win on the 2014 Sunshine Ladies Tour, at the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am, setting a new course record of 63 at Oubaai Golf Club. In 2014, she also won the SuperSport Ladies Challenge and was runner-up at the

Zambia Ladies Open The Zambia Ladies Open was a women's professional golf tournament played in Zambia. The 2014 event, included on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, marked the first time that Zambia hosted a professional women's tournament. The field included players fr ...

. In 2016, she won the Tshwane Ladies Open before an injury caused a four-year lay-off from tour. Staging a comeback, Smit earned her full

card for 2020 at

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

, winning a four-way playoff for the 20th and last card. On the

2020 Ladies European Tour The 2020 Ladies European Tour was a series of golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world. The tournaments were sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). The season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with many tourname ...

, she was runner-up at the

Investec South African Women's Open The South African Women's Open is a golf tournament. It was first played in 1988, is sanctioned by the Women's PGA of South Africa and is played as part of the Sunshine Ladies Tour. The tournament has been co-sanctioned by the Ladies European T ...

, one stroke behind

Alice Hewson Alice Hewson (born 19 August 1997) is an English professional golfer and Ladies European Tour player. She won the 2020 Investec South African Women's Open and 2024 VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open. In 2019, she won the European Ladies Amateur. Amate ...

who won in her first start as a rookie member of the tour. Smit won the 2020 Joburg Ladies Open and 2020 Sunshine Ladies Tour Order of Merit.

Amateur wins

*2005 Ernie Els Junior Tour *2007 KZN Junior Championship *2008 Western Province Stroke Play Championship, Jakarta World Junior Championship, All Africa Challenge Trophy (Individual) *2010 Gus Ackermann Championship, Gosh Leinster Championship *2011 Gus Ackermann Championship, Guateng Matchplay Championship, Western Province Stroke Play Championship Source:

Professional wins (4)

Sunshine Ladies Tour wins (4)

Results in LPGA majors

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing South Africa):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* All Africa Challenge Trophy (representing South Africa): 2008 (winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Monique South African female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Sportspeople from George, South Africa Golfers from the Western Cape Sportspeople from Mbombela 1991 births Living people 21st-century South African sportswomen