Alison Nicholas

Alison Nicholas
— Golfer —
Nicholas at the official announcement of the 2009 Solheim Cup team
Personal information
Full name	Alison Nicholas
Born	(1962-03-06) 6 March 1962 Gibraltar
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Nationality	England
Career
Turned professional	1984
Former tour(s)	Ladies European Tour (joined 1984) LPGA Tour (joined 1989)
Professional wins	18
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	4
Ladies European Tour	12 (10th all-time)
Other	2
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1)
ANA Inspiration	T16: 1995
Women's PGA C'ship	T23: 2000
U.S. Women's Open	Won: 1997
du Maurier Classic	CUT: 1997
Women's British Open	28th: 2004
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour Order of Merit	1997
Ladies European Tour Player of the Year	1997

Alison Nicholas MBE (born 6 March 1962) is an English golfer.

Amateur career

Nicholas was born in Gibraltar. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Anne (now Abbots Bromley School for Girls). She enjoyed a very successful amateur career in England. She started playing golf at the age of 17 and won the 1982 and 1983 Northern Girls Amateur Open. Nicholas was the 1983 British Amateur Stroke Play champion. In 1983, Nicholas won the Yorkshire Ladies County Championship.

Professional career

Nicholas turned professional in 1984 and joined the Ladies European Tour in the same year. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1989.

Nicholas won the British Women's Open in 1987, when it was recognised as a major championship by the Ladies European Tour only, and the 1997 U.S. Women's Open.

At her retirement at the end of the 2004 season, Nicholas had won 12 events on the Ladies European Tour. She topped the European Tour Order of Merit in 1997 and finished in the top-ten fifteen times in 16 seasons between 1985 and 2000. She also won four times on the LPGA Tour, between 1995 and 1999, including winning the U.S. Women's Open in 1997. In 1992, she won both the Western Australian Open and the Malaysian Open.

She won the 1991 Vivien Saunders Trophy for lowest stroke average (71.71). In 1997, she became the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year, was awarded The Association of Golf Writers Trophy and was voted LET Players' Player of the Year, 1997 Evening Mail Sports Personality of the Year and 1997 Midlands Sports Personality of the Year.

In 1998, she was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for "services to women's golf", and in 2002 became a Life Member of the Ladies European Tour.

Nicholas was a member of the European Solheim Cup team in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000 forming a formidable partnership with Laura Davies. She was Vice Captain in 2003. In 2007, Nicholas was the captain for the 2009 and 2011 European Solheim Cup teams.^[1]

Professional wins (18)

LPGA Tour wins (4)

Legend
LPGA Tour major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	28 May 1995	LPGA Corning Classic	−13 (70-67-66-72=275)	3 strokes	Barb Mucha^[2]
2	10 Sep 1995	Ping-AT&T Wireless Services LPGA Golf Championship	−9 (66-73-68=207)	3 strokes	Kelly Robbins^[3]
3	13 Jul 1997	U.S. Women's Open	−10 (70-66-67-71=274)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez
4	20 Feb 1999	Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open	−7 (70-66-73=209)	1 stroke	Annette DeLuca Moira Dunn

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1993	LPGA Corning Classic	Kelly Robbins	Lost to par on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (12)

1987 (2) Weetabix Women's British Open, Laing Charity Classic
1988 (3) British Olivetti Tournament, Variety Club Charity Classic, James Capel Guernsey Open
1989 (3) Lufthansa Ladies' German Open, Gislaved Open, Qualitair Classic
1990 (1) Variety Club Charity Classic
1992 (1) AGF Open de Paris
1995 (1) Payne & Gunter Scottish Open
1996 (1) Guardian Irish Open

Other wins (2)

1992 Western Australian Open, Malaysian Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1997	U.S. Women's Open	−10 (70-66-67-71=274)	1 stroke	Nancy Lopez

Team appearances

Professional

Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 1990, 1992 (winners), 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 (winners)
Handa Cup (representing World team): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie), 2013 (winners), 2014

Solheim Cup record

Year	Total matches	Total W-L-H	Singles W-L-H	Foursomes W-L-H	Fourballs W-L-H	Points won	Points %
Career	18	7-8-3	1-3-2	4-3-0	2-2-1	8.5	47.22%
1990	3	1-2-0	0-1-0 lost to N. Lopez 6&4	1-0-0 won w/L. Davies 2&1	0-1-0 lost w/L. Davies 4&3	1	33.3%
1992	3	2-1-0	0-1-0 lost to J. Inkster 3&2	1-0-0 won w/L. Davies 1up	1-0-0 won w/L. Davies 1up	2	66.7%
1994	3	2-1-0	1-0-0 def P. Sheehan 3&2	1-0-0 won w/L.Davies 2&1	0-1-0 lost w/L.Davies 2&1	2	66.7%
1996	3	0-1-2	0-0-1 halved w/ K. Robbins	0-1-0 lost w/L. Davies 1dn	0-0-1 halved w/H. Alfredsson	1	33.3%
1998	2	0-2-0	0-1-0 lost to T. Green 1dn	0-1-0 lost w/H. Alfredsson 3&1		0	0%
2000	4	2-1-1	0-0-1 halved w/S. Steinhauer	1-1-0 won w/L. Davies 4&3, lost w/L.Davies 6&5	1-0-0 won w/H. Alfredsson 3&2	2.5	62.5%

Notes and references

↑ Bethan Cutler (2007-11-05). "Nicholas Solheim Cup Captain for Europe". LET (Ladies European Tour). Retrieved 2008-08-20.
↑ Golf Observer, 1995 Corning Classic Golfstats Retrieved 2011-9-25.
↑ Golf Observer, 1995 Ping Championship Golfstats Retrieved 2011-9-25.

External links

Official website
Alison Nicholas at the Ladies European Tour official site
Alison Nicholas at the Legends Tour official site

U.S. Women's Open champions

1946 Patty Berg∞ 1947 Betty Jameson 1948 Babe Zaharias 1949 Louise Suggs 1950 Babe Zaharias 1951 Betsy Rawls 1952 Louise Suggs 1953 Betsy Rawls† 1954‡ Babe Zaharias 1955‡ Fay Crocker 1956 Kathy Cornelius† 1957 Betsy Rawls 1958‡ Mickey Wright 1959 Mickey Wright 1960 Betsy Rawls 1961 Mickey Wright 1962 Murle Lindstrom 1963‡ Mary Mills 1964 Mickey Wright† 1965 Carol Mann 1966 Sandra Spuzich 1967‡ Catherine LaCoste# 1968‡ Susie Berning 1969 Donna Caponi 1970‡ Donna Caponi 1971‡ JoAnne Carner 1972 Susie Berning 1973 Susie Berning 1974 Sandra Haynie 1975 Sandra Palmer 1976 JoAnne Carner† 1977 Hollis Stacy 1978 Hollis Stacy 1979 Jerilyn Britz 1980 Amy Alcott 1981 Pat Bradley 1982 Janet Alex 1983 Jan Stephenson 1984 Hollis Stacy 1985 Kathy Baker 1986 Jane Geddes† 1987 Laura Davies† 1988 Liselotte Neumann 1989 Betsy King 1990 Betsy King 1991 Meg Mallon 1992 Patty Sheehan† 1993 Lauri Merten 1994 Patty Sheehan 1995 Annika Sörenstam 1996 Annika Sörenstam 1997 Alison Nicholas 1998 Pak Se-ri† 1999 Juli Inkster 2000 Karrie Webb 2001 Karrie Webb 2002 Juli Inkster 2003 Hilary Lunke† 2004 Meg Mallon 2005 Birdie Kim 2006 Annika Sörenstam† 2007 Cristie Kerr 2008 Inbee Park 2009 Ji Eun-hee 2010 Paula Creamer 2011 Ryu So-yeon† 2012 Choi Na-yeon 2013 Inbee Park 2014 Michelle Wie 2015 Chun In-gee 2016 Brittany Lang†

† event won in a playoff; ‡ winner held lead wire-to-wire; # event won by an amateur; ∞ event won in match-play

Alison Nicholas at the Solheim Cup

European Solheim Cup team – 1990

Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Trish Johnson Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Dale Reid Pam Wright Mickey Walker (non-playing captain)

Lost: 4.5 – 11.5

European Solheim Cup team – 1992

Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Florence Descampe Kitrina Douglas Trish Johnson Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Pam Wright Mickey Walker (non-playing captain)

Won: 11.5 – 6.5

European Solheim Cup team – 1994

Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Lora Fairclough Trish Johnson Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Annika Sörenstam Pam Wright Mickey Walker (non-playing captain)

Lost: 7 – 13

European Solheim Cup team – 1996

Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Lisa Hackney Trish Johnson Kathryn Marshall Joanne Morley Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Annika Sörenstam Mickey Walker (non-playing captain)

Lost: 11 – 17

European Solheim Cup team – 1998

Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Sophie Gustafson Lisa Hackney Trish Johnson Catriona Matthew Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Annika Sörenstam Charlotta Sörenstam Pia Nilsson (non-playing captain)

Lost: 12 – 16

European Solheim Cup team – 2000

Helen Alfredsson Raquel Carriedo Laura Davies Sophie Gustafson Trish Johnson Carin Koch Patricia Meunier-Lebouc Janice Moodie Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Annika Sörenstam Dale Reid (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 11.5

European Solheim Cup team – 2005

Laura Davies Sophie Gustafson Maria Hjorth Trish Johnson Carin Koch Ludivine Kreutz Catriona Matthew Gwladys Nocera Suzann Pettersen Annika Sörenstam Karen Stupples Iben Tinning Alison Nicholas (non-playing assistant captain) Catrin Nilsmark (non-playing captain)

Lost: 12.5 – 15.5

European Solheim Cup team – 2009

Helen Alfredsson Becky Brewerton Laura Davies Tania Elosegui Sophie Gustafson Maria Hjorth Diana Luna Catriona Matthew Janice Moodie Gwladys Nocera Anna Nordqvist Suzann Pettersen Alison Nicholas (non-playing captain) Joanne Morley (non-playing assistant captain) Liselotte Neumann (non-playing assistant captain)

Lost: 12 – 16

European Solheim Cup team – 2011

Christel Boeljon Laura Davies Sandra Gal Sophie Gustafson Caroline Hedwall Maria Hjorth Catriona Matthew Azahara Muñoz Anna Nordqvist Suzann Pettersen Melissa Reid Karen Stupples Alison Nicholas (non-playing captain) Joanne Morley (non-playing assistant captain) Annika Sörenstam (non-playing assistant captain)

Won: 15–13

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