1979 Ladies European Tour

The 1979 Ladies European Tour was the inaugural season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET).[1] The tour was principally sponsored by Carlsberg, who organised 12 36-hole tournaments counting towards their own Order of Merit. There were six other tournaments on the schedule including the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.[2][3]

1979 Ladies European Tour season
DurationApril 1979 (1979-04) – October 1979 (1979-10)
Number of official events18
Order of MeritScotland Cathy Panton
← First
1980

The Order of Merit was won by Cathy Panton, who finished just 1.5 points ahead of Women's British Open winner, Alison Sheard. Sheard topped the money list with almost £5,000 in winnings, over £1,000 more than runner-up Jane Panter.[4][5] The Carlsberg Order of Merit was won by Christine Langford, who won three of the twelve events and finished as runner-up in two others.[6]

Tournaments

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The table below shows the 1979 schedule.[7] The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the Ladies European Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for members of the tour.[8]

Date Tournament Location Winner Score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)–up Winner's
share (£)
Ref
27 Apr Carlsberg Championship – Tyrrells Wood England   Mollie Anderson (1) 145 (+1) 3 strokes   Jane Chapman 200 [9]
4 May Carlsberg Championship – Willingdon England   Cathy Panton (1) 151 (+5) 1 stroke   Kärstin Ehrnlund
  Christine Langford
200 [10]
11 May Carlsberg Championship – Long Ashton England   Christine Langford (1) 73 (−2)[a] 2 strokes   Kärstin Ehrnlund
  Vanessa Marvin
200 [11]
18 May Carlsberg Championship – Baberton Scotland   Joanna Smurthwaite (1) 147 (+1) 2 strokes   Jane Panter 200 [12]
25 May Carlsberg Championship – Whitecraigs Scotland   Christine Langford (2) 142 (−4) 4 strokes   Alison Sheard 200 [13]
1 Jun Carlsberg Championship – Coventry England   Jane Panter (1) 146 (−2) 1 stroke   Cathy Panton 200 [14]
8 Jun Carlsberg Championship – South Staffs England   Vanessa Marvin (1) 143 (−3) 5 strokes   Kärstin Ehrnlund 200 [15]
15 Jun Carlsberg Championship – Ballater Scotland   Beverly Huke (1) 146 (−2) 1 stroke   Jane Panter
  Muriel Thomson
  Mickey Walker
200 [16]
22 Jun Carlsberg Championship – St Annes Old Links England   Christine Langford (3) 148 (+2) Playoff   Jenny Lee Smith 200 [17]
29 Jun Carlsberg Championship – York England   Mickey Walker (1) 140 (−2) 1 stroke   Alison Sheard 200 [18]
6 Jul Carlsberg Championship – Sand Moor England   Alison Sheard (1) 147 (+1) 3 strokes   Christine Langford
  Cathy Panton
200 [19]
13 Jul Carlsberg Championship – Arcot Hall England   Jenny Lee Smith (1) 140 (−2) 3 strokes   Muriel Thomson 200 [20]
28 Jul Women's British Open England   Alison Sheard (2) 301 (+5) 3 strokes   Mickey Walker 3,000 [21]
31 Aug McEwan's Welsh Classic Wales   Alison Sheard (3) 144 (+4) 1 stroke   Christine Trew 400 [22]
14 Sep Hitachi Tournament England   Christine Trew (1) 145 (−1) 3 strokes   Alison Sheard 400 [23]
22 Sep State Express Tournament Northern Ireland   Cathy Panton (2) 166 (+14) Playoff   Amanda Middleton 800 [24]
29 Sep WPGA European Championship France   Susan Moon (1) 292 2 strokes   Irene Koehler [25]
27 Oct Lambert & Butler Matchplay England   Jane Panter (2) 2 up   Muriel Thomson 2,000 [26]
  1. ^ Second round abandoned because of fog; tournament results based on first round scores.

Major championship in bold.

Order of Merit and money list

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The Order of Merit was based on a points system.[4][5]

Place Player Points Money (£) Events
1   Cathy Panton 846 2,495 18
2   Alison Sheard 844.5 4,965 13
3   Christine Langford 789.5 1,533 15
4   Jane Panter 770 3,830 18
5   Vanessa Marvin 740 2,434 18
6   Muriel Thomson 641 3,043 15
7   Christine Trew 624 1,955 15
8   Jenny Lee Smith 597.5 3,222 10
9   Jane Chapman 578.5 1,479 15
10   Amanda Middleton 574.5 1,861 17

See also

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References

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  1. ^ LET Tour Guide 2013. Ladies European Tour. 2013. p. 195.
  2. ^ Ryde, Peter (18 May 1978). "Quality will decide if new WPGA acorn grows into mighty oak". The Times. p. 12. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ Mair, Lewine (31 October 1978). "Women's professional tour becomes a reality". The Times. p. 8. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ^ a b Hedley, Alan (9 November 1979). "Golf". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. p. 39. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ a b Pargeter, John (7 November 1979). "Open is more costly". Newcastle Journal. p. 18. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Pargeter, John (14 July 1979). "First win a dream". Newcastle Journal. p. 16. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  7. ^ Past Tournament Winners, Ladies European Tour[permanent dead link], GolfToday
  8. ^ Ladies European Tour – 1979 Winners
  9. ^ "Mollie wins by three strokes". Glasgow Herald. 28 April 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  10. ^ "Cathy comes home with a 76 for first professional victory". Glasgow Herald. 5 May 1979. p. 20. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  11. ^ "Women caught in fog". Glasgow Herald. 12 May 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  12. ^ "Muriel earns £40 on debut". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 19 May 1979. p. 20 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (26 May 1979). "Christine has a Carlsberg double". Glasgow Herald. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ "Panter beats Panton by one". Glasgow Herald. 2 June 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  15. ^ "Vanessa's win by five strokes". Glasgow Herald. 9 June 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ "Beverly beats the regulars". Glasgow Herald. 16 June 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  17. ^ "Christine again". Glasgow Herald. 23 June 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  18. ^ "Mickey snatches Cathy's record". Glasgow Herald. 30 June 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  19. ^ "Cathy throws away chance of victory". Glasgow Herald. 7 July 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  20. ^ "70 grabs second place for Muriel". Glasgow Herald. 7 July 1979. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  21. ^ "Birdie finish gives Alison British title". Glasgow Herald. 30 July 1979. p. 15 – via Google News Archive.
  22. ^ "Muriel finishes down field". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 1 September 1979. p. 20 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. ^ "Christine holds on". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 15 September 1979. p. 18 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Portrush winner". Belfast Telegraph. 24 September 1979. p. 21 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. ^ "Weekend results | Golf". The Guardian. 1 October 1979. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Muriel's title hope go down the last". Glasgow Herald. 29 October 1979. p. 20 – via Google News Archive.
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