Laura Davies - Part 1 (The Early Years and the 1987 U.S. Women's Open)

World Golf Hall of Fame member, Laura Davies, recalls learning the game by tagging along with her brother and his friends growing up in England. Self-taught by mimicking some of the greats of the game at the time (Ballesteros, Woosnam, etc.), Laura's game developed quickly and she was selected to play in the Curtis Cup at Muirfield in 1984. She turned pro the following year and had the first of her 87 professional wins in 1985 at the Belgian Ladies Open. Laura recounts some of her other early wins including the 1986 Women's British Open at Birkdale (before it was a major) and the 1987 U.S. Women's Open at Plainfield CC in an 18-hole playoff with two other HOFer's, JoAnne Carner and Ayako Okamoto. She concludes this segment by recalling some of the game's greats from the 1980's. Laura Davies, the winningest player ever on the Ladies European Tour, shares her memories of those early years, "FORE the Good of the Game."

Support the show

Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our Website https://www.forethegoodofthegame.com/reviews/new/

Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fore-the-good-of-the-game/id1562581853

Spotify Podcasts https://open.spotify.com/show/0XSuVGjwQg6bm78COkIhZO?si=b4c9d47ea8b24b2d

Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNzM3Mjc1LnJzcw

About

"FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.”

Thanks so much for listening!

Davies, Dame Laura

Golf Professional

Laura Davies has been a competitor all of her life. After more than 70 wins worldwide and four Major Championships, she says, “I think I can still win… that is my driving force – to win more trophies and keep going.”

Davies comes by this feeling naturally. Coming from a very competitive family, she played every sport, especially the games her older brother played. She recalls watching her dad and older brother playing golf at the Corby Golf Club when she was around age 11 and decided that she wanted to play as well.

Her brother, Tony, introduced her to the game when she was 14. Like most siblings, all she wanted to do was beat her brother at whatever he was doing and, as she says, she “dusted” him by the time she was 16. In the two short years after taking up the game, she was down to an 8-handicap and had started playing competitively. Davies played well enough to earn a place on Surrey County’s first team.

Golf and the thrill of competition had motivated her so much that she left school and gave up everything to become a professional golfer. She worked weekends taking various jobs that would allow her to work on her golf game. Davies turned professional at age 21.

“I think I can still win . . . that is my driving force, to win more trophies and keep going.”
During her first year on the professional tour, Davies won both the Rookie of the Year and the Order of Merit titles on the Ladies European Tour. The following year she claimed four victories, including the Women’s British Open. She was fast becoming a dominant force on the Ladies… Read More

New to FORE the Good of the Game?