Tegwen Matthews ( Perkins, formerly Thomas (1979–1987), born 2 October 1955) is a Welsh amateur golfer. She played in four successive

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 " ...

matches from 1974 to 1980, the first Welsh woman to compete in the event.

Golf career

Matthews won the Welsh Girls’ Championship in 1970 at the age of 14, beating

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3&1 in the 18-hole final. She also reached the final in 1973, losing to Vicki Rawlings at the 19th hole. She competed for Wales in the

Girls Home Internationals The Girls Home Internationals was an amateur team golf championship for girls 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 1969 and the ...

from 1970 to 1973 but missed the 1974 event at Dunbar as she was returning from the Curtis Cup match in America. She returned in time to play 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 ...

the following week, reaching the final, but losing by one hole to Ruth Barry. Matthews's first important win was as a 17-year-old, in the 1973 Wills Women's International Match Play at Wentworth, where she beat Prue Riddiford in the 36-hole final. In 1974 she was runner-up in the

Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship was founded in 1969 by the Ladies' Golf Union (now merged into The R&A) of Great Britain. A stroke play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke pl ...

at Seaton Carew, finishing three strokes behind

Julia Greenhalgh Julia A. Greenhalgh (later Merrill, born 6 January 1941) was an English amateur golfer. She was runner-up in the 1978 Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship. She won the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 1974 and 1975 an ...

. Playing with

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, she won 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 1977, a stroke ahead of Sandra Needham and Angela Uzielli. The pair were also runners-up in the event in 1978 and 1980. Matthews won the Welsh Ladies' Amateur Championship twice, in 1976 and 1977 and was runner-up in 1983. She also won the Welsh Women's Open Stroke Play Championship in 1980 and was runner-up three times. From 1973 to 1980, Matthews was a regular competitor for Great Britain and Ireland in international matches. She played in four successive

matches from 1974 to 1980, the first Welsh woman to compete in the event. In 1974 she was selected as first reserve but joined the team when Ann Irvin withdrew through injury. She also played four times against the Continent of Europe in the

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 o ...

from 1973 to 1979. She played in the

1974 Espirito Santo Trophy The 1974 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 22–25 October at Campo de Golf in Cajuiles, La Romana Province, Dominican Republic. It was the sixth women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The tournament was a 72-h ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, where the team of three finished joint runners-up and twice for Britain in the

Commonwealth Trophy The Astor Trophy is a women's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain and Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It has been played every four years since 1959. From its foundation until 2007 it ...

, at

Ganton Ganton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the Vale of Pickering immediately north of the Yorkshire Wolds. Ganton lies west of the coastal town of Filey, and south-west of Scarborou ...

in 1975 and in Australia in 1979. Matthews made her debut for Wales in the

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 ...

in 1972 and competed in 13 successive events, making her final appearance in 1984. Wales were generally the weakest of the four home nations, only winning three matches during this period, all against Ireland, in 1973, 1975 and 1979. In 1976 they tied all three matches 4–4 and finished runners-up to England, who narrowly beat Scotland on the final day. She was also a regular competitor for Wales in the

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 ...

. Matthews was the non-playing captain of the winning

2012 Curtis Cup The 37th Curtis Cup Match was played from 8 to 10 June 2012 at Nairn Golf Club in Nairn, Scotland. Great Britain and Ireland won 10 to 9. Format The contest was a three-day competition, with three foursomes and three fourball matches on each of t ...

team, and was captain again in 2014.

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980,

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(non-playing captain, winners),

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

(non-playing captain) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1973 (winners), 1975 (winners), 1977 (winners), 1979 (tied) *

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 ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

(representing Great Britain): 1975 (winners), 1979 *

(representing Wales):

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

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 ...

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 ...

(representing Wales): 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 *

(representing Wales): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Tegwen Welsh female golfers Amateur golfers 1955 births Living people