Samantha Giles (golfer)

Samantha Jo Giles (born 28 October 1994) is a Cornish professional golfer who has represented England[1] at the highest amateur level. Giles is the first female amateur golfer to hold all three major English women's amateur titles, English Women's Mid-Amateur, English Women's Open Stroke Play and the English Women's Amateur Championship. She has also been Cornwall's women's county champion as recently as 2015.

Samantha Giles
Giles at Saler, Spain, LET Access/Santander Tour event, October 2017
Personal information
Full nameSamantha Jo Giles
NicknameSammie
Born (1994-10-28) 28 October 1994
Plymouth, England
Height5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Nationality England
ResidenceSaltash, England
Career
Turned professional2017
Current tour(s)LET Access Series

She currently plays on the Ladies European Tour and LET Access Series professional tours.

Early career

Giles was born in Plymouth to parents Paul and Carol, both of whom had represented England at table tennis, Carol at the Commonwealth games and Paul as national champion. She had an early interest in swimming, dancing and golf. From the age of 11, Giles concentrated on golf and competed in regional, national and European events. Since the age of 16 she trained full-time with the objective of turning professional, which she achieved in 2017.[2]

As an amateur her most important successes were joining the England Golf Women's team, winning the 2014 English women's mid-amateur championship,[3] 2015 Cornish Women's Championship, 2015 English Women's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship,[2] the Royal Birkdale Golf Club Ladies Scratch Trophy, the 2016 English Women's Amateur Championship and the 2015 & 2016 Home International tournaments with England.

In January 2017, Giles was named as the Plymouth Herald Amateur Sports Personality of the Year for 2016.[4]

Professional career

Giles turned professional in April 2017 and played her first tournament as a professional at the Azores Ladies Open on the LET Access Series. She made the cut and finished joint 11th.[5] Giles joined the newly formed Banco Santander Tour for her second professional event, the Banco Santander Open in Zaragoza, Spain. She managed her first top-10 finish as a professional.[6]

In June, Giles achieved her first top-5 as a professional in her fourth event as a professional.[7] This was followed by another top-15 finish on the LET Access Tour with a tied 13th-place finish in the Belfius Ladies Open at Rinkven Golf Club in Belgium in July. She closed out her first season as a professional golfer with a tied 13th finish at the joint Banco Santander and LET Access Series Tour event hosted at the El Saler golf club.[8]

Giles began her second season as a professional with a top-5 finish at the Roehampton Club in April 2018.[9] This was followed a few weeks later on the LET Access Series at the VP Bank Ladies Open in Gams, Switzerland. After successfully making the cut, she ended with a top-40 finish.

Despite suffering a knee injury whilst surfing in March 2019, Giles made a strong return to her third season as a professional by making the cut and recording a top 45 finish at the Montauban Open in June. The following week at the Belfius Open in Cleydael, Giles recorded her best ever performance as a professional with a top 5 finish [10] having led the field over the first two days.

At her first attempt at the Ladies European Tour qualifying school in January 2020, Sammie successfully made it through to the final qualifying round.[11]

Notes

Giles plays out of the St. Mellion International Resort in Cornwall. In August 2017, she became the first female brand ambassador for sportswear company, Mashie.

Amateur wins
  • 2010 The Daily Express Andalucia Junior Girls European Open[12]
  • 2011 The Daily Express Andalucia Junior Girls European Open[12][13]
  • 2012 The Daily Express Andalucia Junior Girls European Open[12]
  • 2014 English Women's Mid-Amateur & The Liphook Scratch Trophy
  • 2015 Cornish Women's County Championship, English Women's Open Stroke Play, Royal Birkdale Ladies Scratch,[14] Women's Home Internationals (England)[15]
  • 2016 English Women's Amateur Championship,[16] Women's Home Internationals (England)

Source:[17]

References
  1. http://www.englandgolf.org/playerprofile.aspx?sitesectionid=989&sitesectiontitle=England+Golf+Women&pref=40648
  2. "Sammie Giles: Cornish golfer wins English strokeplay title". BBC Sport. 7 August 2015.
  3. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Cornwall-s-Sammie-Giles-tees-English-women-8217-s/story-21338436-detail/story.html
  4. http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/olympics-star-sarah-barrow-is-the-herald-s-sports-personality-of-the-year/story-30097783-detail/story.html
  5. http://www.access.letscoring.com/entries/2982
  6. http://santandergolftour.es/web/index.php/players-information/sgt-2017-2-la-penaza/leaderboard
  7. http://tgl.nexxlive.com/clasificacionTorneo.aspx?<t=47&p=1&d=1
  8. http://tgl.nexxlive.com/clasificacionTorneo.aspx?t=50&p=1&d=1
  9. https://roehampton.intelligentgolf.co.uk/competition.php?compid=7118
  10. http://letaccess.com/news_article.php?id=4116
  11. https://ladieseuropeantour.com/reports-page/?tourn=1822&report=https://info.ladieseuropeantour.com/tic/tmdraw.cgi?tourn=1822~season=2019~round=1~
  12. http://golforganiser.com/tournament_history.php
  13. "Cornwall's Sami Giles wins Andalucia title". Golf Today. 31 January 2011.
  14. http://www.royalbirkdale.com/images/Ladies_Scratch_Trophy_Results_2015.pdf
  15. http://ercn86.gilliankirkwood.co.uk/2015/09/england-bounce-back-from-defeat-by.html
  16. http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sammie-giles-completes-full-set-of-national-titles-with-victory-at-women-s-amateur-championship/story-29515941-detail/story.html
  17. "Samantha Giles". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
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