Marta Figueras-Dotti

Marta Figueras-Dotti (born 12 November 1957) is a retired Spanish professional golfer.

Marta Figueras-Dotti
Personal information
Born (1957-11-12) 12 November 1957
Madrid, Spain
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality Spain
ResidenceMadrid, Spain
Career
CollegeUniversity of Southern California
Turned professional1982
Retired2000
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour(1984-2000)
Ladies European Tour (1983)
Professional wins5
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour1
Ladies European Tour3
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA InspirationT5: 1988
Women's PGA C'shipT3: 1988
U.S. Women's OpenT12: 1987
du Maurier ClassicT12: 1996
Women's British OpenDNP

Early life

Figueras-Dotti was born in Madrid and her father was the president of the Spanish Golf Association. She started playing golf at 8 years of age.[1]

Amateur career

Figueras-Dotti won several amateur tournaments in Europe, including the Spanish Closed Amateur and the French and Italian Open Amateur Championships in the same year, 1979.[2] At the 1979 European Ladies' Team Championship, were she was part of the Spanish team, at Hermitage Golf Club, outside Dublin, Ireland, she won the individual stroke-play part of the competition, three strokes ahead of the nearest competitor.[3]

She played college golf at the University of Southern California, were she was an All-American in 1982, graduating the same year.[2]

She remained an amateur through the main part of the 1982 season. At he British Ladies Amateur in June, she was tied winner of the 36-hole stroke-play qualification, but was send out from the tournament in the following match-play. In late July, she entered the 1982 Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England, still an amateur. Figueras-Dotti was one shot from the lead after three rounds, but took command of the tournament on the 8th hole of the final round. Despite a bogey 6 on the last hole, she won by one shot, scoring level par over 72 holes. She remains the last amateur to have won the Women's British Open, the tournament that has been recognized as an LPGA major since 2001.[4]

She ended her amateur career by finishing individual runner-up to Juli Inkster at the 1982 Espirito Santo Trophy in Lausanne, Switzerland.[5]

Professional career

Figueras-Dotti became the first Spanish female tournament golf professional. She failed in her first attempt to qualify for the LPGA Tour at the Qualifying School in Sarasota, Florida, in January 1983. Instead she started her professional career in Europe, on the Women Professional Golfers’ European Tour, later named the Ladies European Tour, and quickly won two tournaments in June 1983.

In 1984, her first year on the LPGA Tour, she tied 2nd at the Safeco Classic, at Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent, Washington, and was named the 1984 Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest.

She played on the LPGA Tour from 1984 to 2000. Her career earnings totaled $1,247,905.[2] She achieved five holes-in-one in her LPGA career, and won one tournament, the 1994 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open.[2] She also won the unofficial JCPenney Classic with Brad Bryant in 1994.

Figueras-Dotti never got the opportunity to play in the Solheim Cup. Nevertheless, she captained the European team at the 2002 Junior Solheim Cup, acted as a Solheim Cup team helper three times, including in 2013 when Europe secured their first victory on U.S. soil, and was appointed vice-captain for the 2017 Solheim Cup in Iowa, by European team captain Annika Sörenstam.[6]

Private life

In 1990, she played a limited schedule after undergoing surgery for a thyroid tumor. In 1997, she played in just seven events on the LPGA Tour, due to the birth of her first child, son Nicholas Alejandro, born on June 24.

She is the Chairperson of the board of the Ladies European Tour. She runs her own golf academy in her home town Madrid, Spain. Until 2015, she was coaching the Spanish national amateur team and is, since 2016, Director of coaching at the Golf Federation of Morocco.

Amateur wins
  • 1979 Spanish Junior Championship, Spanish Closed Amateur Championship, French Open Amateur Championship, Italian Open Amateur Championship
  • 1982 Italian Open Amateur Championship

Professional wins (5)

LPGA Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning ScoreMargin of
Victory		Runner-up
1 Feb 19, 1994 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open -7 (68-70-71=209) 1 stroke Jane Geddes

LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1988 AI Star/Centinela Hospital Classic Nancy Lopez Lost to par on second extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning ScoreMargin of
Victory		Runner(s)-up
1 1 Aug 1982 Pretty Polly Women's British Open (as an amateur) L (72-73-75-76=296) 1 stroke Rosie Jones

Jenny Lee Smith

2 10 Jun 1983 United Friendly Worthing Open +4 (75-69-73=217) 5 strokes Beverly Huke
3 29 Jun 1983 Guernsey Open -7 (66-74-69=209) 3 strokes Beverly Huke

Note: The Women's British Open was not co-sanctioned by the LPGA until 1994, and did not become an LPGA major until 2001.

Other wins (1)

Team appearances

Amateur

Sources: [7][8]

References
  1. "Marta Figueras-Dotti, Bio". LPGA Tour. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. "Marta Figueras-Dotti (LPGA record)" (PDF). LPGA Tour. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  3. Jansson, Anders (1979). Golf - Den gröna sporten [Golf - The green sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. p. 185. ISBN 9172603283.
  4. Nordlund, Anders (August 1982). "Charlotte tappade rytmen" [Charlotte lost her rhythm]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. pp. 70, 74.
  5. Ohlson, Jörgen (September 1982). "VM" [World Championships]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 7. pp. 42–44.
  6. "Marta Figueras-Dotti named Europe vice-captain for 2017 Solheim Cup". BBC Sport. September 20, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  7. "European Ladies' Team Championship – European Golf Association". Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  8. "World Amateur Team Championships – Women's Records". Retrieved 23 October 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.