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1981 Ladies European Tour season
Duration	May 1981 – October 1981
Number of official events	18
Order of Merit	Jenny Lee Smith
	← 1980 1982 →

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).^[1] 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,^[2] but the tour suffered financially during the season as several tournaments were cancelled after sponsors withdrew their support.^[3]

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.^[4] The Carlsberg European Championship overall title was won by Panton, who won two of the four events.^[5]

Tournaments

The table below shows the 1981 schedule.^[6] 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.^[7]

Date	Tournament	Location	Winner	Score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)–up	Winner's share (£)	Ref
1 May	Carlsberg Championship – St Pierre	Wales	Mickey Walker (3)	222 (+6)	2 strokes	Sue Latham	1,500	^[8]
11 May	Sports Space Championship	England	Jenny Lee Smith (6)	72 (−1)	2 strokes	Christine Langford Cathy Panton	600	^[9]
22 May	Carlsberg Championship – Queen's Park	England	Cathy Panton (4)	223 (+1)	1 stroke	Christine Langford	1,500	^[10]
30 May	Smirnoff Ulster Open	Northern Ireland	Sarah LeVeque (1)	228 (E)	Playoff	Christine Langford	600	^[11]
6 Jun	United Friendly Tournament	England	Sarah LeVeque (2)	220 (+7)	8 strokes	Sherrin Galbraith Cathy Panton		^[12]
19 Jun	Carlsberg Championship – Moortown	England	Cathy Panton (5)	213 (−9)	3 strokes	Jenny Lee Smith	1,500	^[13]
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	^[14]
24 Jul	Elizabeth Ann Classic	England	Muriel Thomson (4)	293 (+1)	1 stroke	Jenny Lee Smith	1,500	^[15]
1 Aug	Women's British Open	England	Debbie Massey (n/a)	295 (−1)	4 strokes	Belle Robertson (a)	5,600	^[16]
8 Aug	Ladies Irish Open	Ireland	Cancelled					^[3]
14 Aug	Carlsberg Championship – Gleneagles	England	Dale Reid (2)	219 (+3)	1 stroke	Jenny Lee Smith	1,500	^[5]
21 Aug	Hitachi WPGA Championship	England	Cancelled					^[3]
13 Sep	Moben Kitchens Classic	England	Dale Reid (3)	213 (−6)	6 strokes	Jenny Lee Smith	900	^[17]
18 Sep	Barnham Broom Championship	England	Cancelled					^[3]
17 Oct	Lambert & Butler Matchplay	England	Jenny Lee Smith (8)	3 and 2		Beverly Lewis	3,000	^[18]

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.^[4]

Place	Player	Money (£)	Events
1	Jenny Lee Smith	13,518	11
2	Cathy Panton	8,410
3	Muriel Thomson	8,143	13
4	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

References

^ LET Tour Guide 2013. Ladies European Tour. 2013. p. 195.
^ Plumridge, Christopher (9 December 1980). "Women's circuit is booming". The Guardian. London, England. p. 21. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hennessy, John (17 March 1981). "Bleak prspect of drop in prize money for women". The Times. p. 11. Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
^ ^a ^b Hennessy, John (20 October 1981). "Miss Lee keeps her bank manager happy". The Times. p. 23. Retrieved 28 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
^ ^a ^b "Reid wins — Panton champion". Glasgow Herald. 15 August 1981. p. 18. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ Past Tournament Winners, Ladies European Tour^{[permanent dead link‍]}, GolfToday
^ Ladies European Tour – 1981 Winners
^ "Miss Walker uses U.S. experience". Glasgow Herald. 2 May 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "New stance suits Miss Lee-Smith". Glasgow Herald. 12 May 1981. p. 29. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Cathy is home with steady 77". Glasgow Herald. 23 May 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ Hennessy, John (1 June 1981). "Miss Langford drives out". The Times. p. 8. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
^ "Miss Panton second—but eight behind". Glasgow Herald. 8 June 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Fifth win for Miss Panton". Glasgow Herald. 20 June 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Classic ace for Muriel". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 4 July 1981. p. 20. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Muriel takes the low road". Glasgow Herald. 25 July 1981. p. 14. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Debbie pulls away from the field". Glasgow Herald. 3 August 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "Runaway victory for Dale Reid". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 14 September 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Sports briefs from home and abroad | Golf". Glasgow Herald. 19 October 1981. p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020 – via Google News Archive.