Pamela Mary Benka ( Tredinnick, born 17 June 1946) was an English amateur golfer. She won the 1964

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 ...

and the 1967

Astor Prince's Trophy The Astor Prince's Trophy was a women's 72-hole stroke play amateur golf tournament played at Prince's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent from 1961 to 1969. The event was dropped after 1969 because of a busy schedule. The Ladies' British Open Amateur S ...

. She reached the semi-finals of the

Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of the ...

in 1965. She played in the

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

in 1966 and 1968 and was the non-playing captain in 2002.

Golf career

In August 1964, Benka reached the final of the inaugural English girls championship at Wollaton Park, losing 2 and 1 to Shirley Ward. Two weeks later, she won the

at Camberley Heath, having beaten Ward at the 19th hole in the semi-finals and Kathleen Cumming 2 and 1 in the final. In April 1965, she won the French junior championship. In October, she reached the semi-finals of the

, losing to

Brigitte Varangot Brigitte Varangot (1 May 1940 – 12 October 2007) was a French amateur golfer. Early life Varangot was born in Biarritz in the French Basque Country and was a self-taught golfer, who did not take many lessons and did not practice a lot. Lally ...

, a match delayed a day by rain. In 1967, she won the 72-hole

by three strokes from

Angela Bonallack Angela, Lady Bonallack ( Ward; 7 April 1937 – 1 July 2022) was an English amateur golfer. She was twice a finalist in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship and won the English Women's Amateur Championship in 1958 and 1963. She playe ...

, while in 1968, playing with

Isa Goldschmid Isa or ISA may refer to: Places * Isa, Amur Oblast, Russia * Isa, Kagoshima, Japan * Isa, Nigeria * Isa District, Kagoshima, former district in Japan * Isa Town, middle class town located in Bahrain * Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia * Mount Is ...

, she was runner-up in the

Avia Foursomes The Avia Foursomes was a women's foursomes golf tournament contested annually from 1958 to 1989. It was held at Sunningdale Golf Club in its first year but was then played at the Berkshire Golf Club near Ascot, Berkshire. The event consisted of 7 ...

. In 1969, she and

Bruce Critchley Bruce Fishwick Critchley (born 9 December 1942) is a UK TV broadcaster and commentator who worked for the BBC in the 1980s and from the early 1990s was a member of Sky Sports golf broadcasting team until his retirement in the mid-2010s. Backgroun ...

reached the final of the

Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes The Worplesdon Open Scratch Mixed Foursomes is an open mixed foursomes golf tournament contested annually at the Worplesdon Golf Club in Surrey since 1921. From its inception until the 1960s the event attracted many of the leading amateur golfe ...

and in 1970 she won the

Portuguese championship Portuguese Championship ( Portuguese: ''Campeonato Português'') may refer to: *Campeonato Português de Rugby *Portuguese Chess Championship * Portuguese District Championships *Portuguese Indoor Men's Athletics Championship *Portuguese Indoor Wo ...

. Benka was selected for the 1966

team in

Hot Springs, Virginia Hot Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 738. It is located about southwest of Warm Springs on U.S. Route 220. Hot Springs has several historic resorts, f ...

. She narrowly lost her foursomes match on the first day, playing with

Liz Chadwick Elizabeth M. Chadwick (later Pook, 4 April 1943 – 6 December 2012) was an English amateur golfer. She won the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship in 1966 and 1967. She played in the Curtis Cup in 1966. Golf career In 1961 Chadwick was s ...

and halving her singles match against Nancy Syms in the final round of singles matches. Benka made her second appearance in the Curtis Cup at Royal County Down in 1968. She was only selected for the foursomes, losing both matches. The team led after the first day but the United States had the better of the second day and won by 3 points. Benka played in the 1967

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in od ...

match at

Royal Lytham Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being designated a major ch ...

, match that the Continent of Europe won by a single point. Benka was the non-playing captain in the

2002 Curtis Cup The 32nd Curtis Cup Match was played on August 3 and 4, 2002 at Fox Chapel Golf Club near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The United States won 11 to 7. Carol Semple Thompson made her 12th and final appearance, having first played in 1974. Format The ...

match.

Personal life

She was born in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and H ...

on 17 June 1946, the daughter of John Tredinnick and Mary Lake. Mary was a golfer and had reached the semi-finals of the 1933

English Women's Amateur Championship The English Women's Amateur Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of England. It was first played in 1912 and is currently organised by England Golf. The English Women's Amateur Championship is contested thro ...

at Royal North Devon. John's brother Steve Tredinnick played for England in the

Men's Home Internationals The Men's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for men between the four Home Nations. Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland.The event was organised by The R&A. The inaugural event was held in 1932 and the v ...

. She married Peter Benka (1946–2007) in 1971. Peter Benka had played in the

1969 Walker Cup The 1969 Walker Cup, the 22nd Walker Cup Match, was played on August 22 and 23, 1969, at Milwaukee Country Club, River Hills near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event was won by the United States 10 to 8 with 6 matches halved. The United States led by ...

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

, 1968,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

(non-playing captain) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1967 *

Women's Home Internationals The Women's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for women contested between the four Home Nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, where Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland on an All-Ireland basi ...

(representing England): 1967 (joint winners) * England–Scotland girls match (representing England): 1963 (winners), 1964 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benka, Pam English female golfers Amateur golfers Sportspeople from Worthing 1946 births Living people