The 1981 Ladies European Tour was the third season of golf tournaments organised by the Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA), which later became the Ladies European Tour (LET). There were 13 tournaments on the schedule including four Carlsberg sponsored events and the Women's British Open, organised by the Ladies' Golf Union.
For the 1981 season, the majority of tournaments were increased to 54-holes, having previously been held over 36-holes. This included the Carlsberg events, which were reduced in number, from ten down to four, in order to increase the prize funds at each event. Total prize money on the tour was planned to rise to £250,000 in 1981, but the tour suffered financially during the season as several tournaments were cancelled after sponsors withdrew their support.
The Order of Merit was won by Jenny Lee Smith, who dominated the season with three wins and four runner-up finishes; her £13,518 in prize money put her more than £5,000 clear of runner-up Cathy Panton. The Carlsberg European Championship overall title was won by Panton, who won two of the four events.
Tournaments The table below shows the 1981 schedule.Past Tournament Winners, Ladies European Tour, GolfToday 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.Ladies European Tour – 1981 Winners
Date Tournament Location Winner Score Margin ofvictory Runner(s)–up Winner'sshare (£) Ref 1 May Carlsberg Championship – St Pierre Wales Mickey Walker (3) 222 (+6) 2 strokes Sue Latham 1,500 11 May Sports Space Championship England Jenny Lee Smith (6) 72 (−1) 2 strokes Christine Langford Cathy Panton 600 22 May Carlsberg Championship – Queen's Park England Cathy Panton (4) 223 (+1) 1 stroke Christine Langford 1,500 30 May Smirnoff Ulster Open Northern Ireland Sarah LeVeque (1) 228 (E) Playoff Christine Langford 600 6 Jun United Friendly Tournament England Sarah LeVeque (2) 220 (+7) 8 strokes Sherrin Galbraith Cathy Panton 19 Jun Carlsberg Championship – Moortown England Cathy Panton (5) 213 (−9) 3 strokes Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 28 Jun Volvo International Tournament Sweden Beverly Lewis (1) 147 (+5) 3 strokes Kärstin Ehrnlund 3 Jul McEwan's Lager Welsh Classic Wales Jenny Lee Smith (7) 216 (E) 2 strokes Muriel Thomson 1,500 24 Jul Elizabeth Ann Classic England Muriel Thomson (4) 293 (+1) 1 stroke Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 1 Aug Women's British Open England Debbie Massey (n/a) 295 (−1) 4 strokes Belle Robertson (a) 5,600 8 Aug Ladies Irish Open Ireland Cancelled 14 Aug Carlsberg Championship – Gleneagles England Dale Reid (2) 219 (+3) 1 stroke Jenny Lee Smith 1,500 21 Aug Hitachi WPGA Championship England Cancelled 13 Sep Moben Kitchens Classic England Dale Reid (3) 213 (−6) 6 strokes Jenny Lee Smith 900 18 Sep Barnham Broom Championship England Cancelled 17 Oct Lambert & Butler Matchplay England Jenny Lee Smith (8) 3 and 2 Beverly Lewis 3,000
Major championship in bold.
Order of Merit The Order of Merit was sponsored by Hambro Life and based on prize money won throughout the season.
PlacePlayerMoney (£)Events1 Jenny Lee Smith 13,518 112 Cathy Panton 8,410 3 Muriel Thomson 8,143 134 Dale Reid 7,321 5 Beverly Lewis 6,534 6 Christine Langford 5,290 7 Mickey Walker 4,844 8 Jane Chapman 4,583 9 Maxine Burton 4,120 10 Sue Latham 4,118
See also 1981 LPGA Tour
References
External links Official site of the Ladies European Tour