Louise Stahle (born 19 March 1985) is a professional golf player who has played on both the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She won the British Ladies Amateur back-to-back in 2004 and 2005[1]

Louise Stahle
Stahle in 2019
Personal information
Born (1985-03-19) 19 March 1985 (age 39)
Lund, Sweden
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Career
CollegeArizona State University
Turned professional2005
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (joined 2006)
Ladies European Tour (joined 2007)
Professional wins2
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipDNP
Women's PGA C'shipT67: 2010
U.S. Women's OpenT48: 2010
Women's British OpenT8: 2005
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Rookie of the Year
2007
NGCA Player of the Year2005
NGCA Freshman of the Year2005

Early years

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Stahle was born in Lund, Sweden, into a family with a strong golfing background. She started playing golf at the age of nine and practiced golf and other sports during summer vacations. Tennis has been her second sport.[2] Her father, Oscar Stahle and her uncle, Fredrik Stahle were both among the best amateur players in Sweden in the 1970s. Fredrik won the 1977 Swedish Junior Stroke-Play Championship and represented Sweden twice in the European Youths' Team Championship.

Amateur career

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Stahle had a very successful amateur career. In 2002, at 17 years of age, she won the French International Lady Juniors Amateur Championship[3] as well as the Swedish Junior Match-play Championship and was a member of the European Junior Solheim Cup team.[4] In 2003, she was again a member of the European Junior Solheim Cup team, this time on the winning side and in her native Sweden.[5]

In 2004, she won the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews, Scotland,[6] the Beirut Café Ladies Trophy on the Swedish Golf Tour (at the time named the Telia Tour)[7] and won the Smyth Salver as leading amateur at the Weetabix Women's British Open.[8] However, her greatest achievement of the year came when she became the first Swede to win the British Ladies Amateur, when she won at Gullane No 1 in Scotland.[9] She was part of the winning Swedish Team at the 2004 Espirito Santo Trophy together with Sofie Andersson and Karin Sjödin.[10]

Stahle played collegiate golf 2004-2005 at Arizona State University, where she had one of the finest freshman seasons in school history.[9] She had four runner-up performances and three victories in 10 tournaments, including wins at the Wildcat Invitational[11] and PING/ASU Invitational. She was named National Golf Coaches Association Eleanor Dudley Division I Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year as well as being named to All-American First team[12] and Scholar team.[13] She was Pac-10 Golfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, won the Pac-10 championship and was named All-Pac-10 first team.[9] She also won the Golfstat Cup, which is given to the player who has the best scoring average versus par with at least 20 full rounds played during a season.[14]

Stahle became the first player in 30 years to successfully defend the Ladies' British Amateur title, when she won again in 2005, this time at Littlestone, Scotland.[3][15]

Playing as an amateur at the 2005 Weetabix Women's British Open, she was placed lone second after two rounds. She did not have the possibility to win any prize money, but her invitation to the major championship, as reigning British Amateur champion, was conditioned to the fact that she played as an amateur.[2] After finishing tied eighth in the tournament, two strokes from second place, Stahle turned professional.[16]

Professional career

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Stahle made her professional debut at the 2005 Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika at her home club, Barsebäck Golf & Country Club in Sweden, finishing 15th.[17] She gained exempt status for the 2006 LPGA Tour season by finishing tied for 11th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.[18]

From 2006 to 2011, she played in 56 LPGA Tour tournaments with an 8th-place finish at the 2009 Sybase Classic as her best result. In 2006, Louise secured her playing rights at the Ladies European Tour (LET) and played 49 tournaments between 2007 and 2012. Runner-up finishes at the 2007 Ladies Open of Portugal and the 2008 Ladies German Open were her best results. In 2015, Stahle re-entered both the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour after successfully completing both qualifying schools.

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (2)

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Swedish Golf Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up Ref
1 3 Jun 2004 Beirut Café Ladies Trophy
(as an amateur)
69-68=137 –7 2 strokes   Lisa Holm Sørensen [19]
2 2 Jul 2005 Swedish Matchplay Championship
(as an amateur)
  Emelie Leijon [20]

Results in LPGA majors

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Results not in chronological order.

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
ANA Inspiration
U.S. Women's Open T48 CUT
Women's PGA Championship CUT T67 CUT
The Evian Championship ^
Women's British Open T42LA T8 CUT CUT CUT T59

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013

  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Source:[1]

Team appearances

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Amateur

Sources:[21][22][23]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b "Player Profile Louise Stahle". Golfdata. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Svenska Louise chockar golfvärlden". Expressen. Stockholm, Sweden. 30 July 2005.
  3. ^ a b "Meet the 2007 LET Rookies". Ladies European Tour. 5 March 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  4. ^ "Team Europe". American Junior Golf Association. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  5. ^ Park, Martin (29 August 2003). "Alfredsson named as European Junior Captain". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  6. ^ "St Rule Trophy". St. Andrews Links. 23 October 2006. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  7. ^ "Louise Stahle Results 2004". Golfdata.se. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
  8. ^ Cutler, Bethan (5 August 2004). "New Swede on the block as Stahle finishes on top". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  9. ^ a b c "Louise Stahle Profile". Arizona State Sun Devils. Retrieved 15 April 2007.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Sweden Wins 2004 Women's World Amateur Team Championship". International Golf Federation. Archived from the original on 19 April 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
  11. ^ Farnum, Amy (3 March 2005). "ASU's Stahle Wins First Title". NCAA Sports. Archived from the original on 16 December 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  12. ^ "Division I All-American Teams 1998 - 2006" (PDF). National Golf Coaches Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.
  13. ^ "Honors and Accolades". Arizona State Sun Devils. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  14. ^ "Golfstat Cup Award". National Golf Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  15. ^ Tait, Alistair. "Stahle repeats at Ladies British". Golfweek. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  16. ^ "Proffsigt avslut på amatörkarriären". Svenska Dagbladet. Stockholm, Sweden. 31 July 2005.
  17. ^ Cutler, Bethan (3 August 2005). "Louise Stahle makes her professional debut". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  18. ^ "Louise Stahle Full Career Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  19. ^ "2004 Beirut Café Ladies Trophy". Golfdata. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  20. ^ "2005 Swedish Matchplay Championship". Golfdata. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  21. ^ "European Team Championships". European Golf Association. 16 October 2015. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  22. ^ "World Amateur Team Championships: Women's World Amateur Team Championship". Golfstat. 23 October 2004. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  23. ^ "2004 World Amateur Team Championships, Record Book" (PDF). International Golf Federation. pp. 4–14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
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