Vicki Thomas

Vicki Thomas (née Rawlings, born 27 October 1954)[1][2] is a Welsh amateur golfer. She played in six successive Curtis Cup matches from 1982 to 1992. She won the Welsh Ladies' Amateur Championship eight times and the Welsh Women's Open Stroke Play Championship five times.

Vicki Thomas
Personal information
Born (1954-10-27) 27 October 1954
Northampton, England
Sporting nationality Wales
Career
StatusAmateur

Golf career

Thomas won the Welsh Girls' Championship in 1973, beating Tegwen Perkins at the 19th hole.[3] She competed for Wales in the Girls Home Internationals from the inaugural event in 1969, when she was 14, to 1973.[4] She made her debut for Wales in the Women's Home Internationals in 1971 and the European Ladies' Team Championship from 1973.[5][6] However she made little impact outside Wales until 1979, although she was runner-up in 1977 Newmark International at Woodhall Spa, nine strokes behind the winner, Dinah Henson.[7]

In 1979 Thomas won the Welsh Ladies' Amateur Championship and was runner-up in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, two strokes behind Mary McKenna.[8][9] She also played in the Vagliano Trophy and then in the Commonwealth Trophy in Australia.[10][11] Despite her good performance in 1979 she was not selected for the 1980 Curtis Cup team, being second reserve.[12]

Competing as Vicki Thomas, she was runner-up in the 1980 Welsh Women's Open Stroke Play Championship, a stroke behind Tegwen Thomas. The following year, 1981, she won the event, six strokes ahead of Tegwen Thomas.[13] In 1982 Thomas retained the Welsh stroke play title, won the Welsh Ladies' Amateur Championship for the second time and was runner-up in the Spanish International Ladies Amateur Championship.[14] She also made her first appearance in the Curtis Cup.[15]

Thomas was runner-up in the 1984 Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Championship, seven strokes behind Gillian Stewart, and in 1985 she reached the semi-finals of the British Ladies Amateur.[16][17] In 1986 she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Women's Amateur, while in 1987 she won the Mellsop Cup, the New Zealand amateur stroke-play championship.[18][19][20] In 1990 she won the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship, a stroke ahead of Claire Hourihane. and she was a runner-up in the 1993 Irish Women's Amateur Open Championship. She won the Welsh Ladies' Amateur Championship eight times between 1979 and 1994, reaching her 11th final in 1996.[21][22] She also won the Welsh Women's Open Stroke Play Championship for a third time in 1989.[23] In 2009 she won the Women's Senior Amateur.[24]

Thomas played in six successive Curtis Cup matches and also played in the Vagliano Trophy six times, the Commonwealth Trophy four times and the Espirito Santo Trophy in 1990. She represented Wales in the Women's Home Internationals for 28 consecutive years from 1971 to 1998 and also represented Wales regularly in the European Ladies' Team Championship.[1][2]

Personal life

Thomas has two younger sisters, Kerri (born 1957) and Mandy (born 1964) who were also Welsh international golfers.[2] She was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.[25]

Team appearances

References
  1. "Thomas, Mrs Vicki (nee Rawlings)". Women Golfers' Museum. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  2. "Vicki Thomas". Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. "Welsh Girls' Champions" (PDF). Wales Golf. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  4. "Le Feuvre and Phillips steer England home". The Guardian. 27 August 1969. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "England retain women's title". The Glasgow Herald. 11 September 1971. p. 4.
  6. "Scots impress in Brussels". The Glasgow Herald. 7 July 1973. p. 2.
  7. Price, Elizabeth (28 July 1977). "Mrs Henson outpaces field by nine strokes". The Daily Telegraph. p. 29.
  8. "Vicki takes Welsh title". The Daily Telegraph. 19 May 1979. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Mary is champion - after ten years". The Glasgow Herald. 25 August 1979. p. 16.
  10. "British and Irish Lead". The Glasgow Herald. 8 September 1979. p. 15.
  11. "Golf Trophy to Canada". The Age. 1 October 1979. p. 26.
  12. Price, Elizabeth (28 March 1980). "Jane, 16, selected for Curtis Cup". The Daily Telegraph. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Welsh Ladies' Open Stroke Play Champions" (PDF). Wales Golf. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  14. "Sister ends Mandy's bid". North Wales Weekly News. 27 May 1982. p. 45 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Mrs Robertson in Curtis Cup squad". The Glasgow Herald. 14 June 1982. p. 15.
  16. "Gillian proves a point". The Glasgow Herald. 30 April 1984. p. 16.
  17. "Lilian Behan". The Glasgow Herald. 15 June 1985. p. 18.
  18. "Squeeze-in junior putts into final". The Canberra Times. Vol. 61, no. 18623. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 27 September 1986. p. 10. Retrieved 20 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Thomas battles to windy victory". The Daily Telegraph. 2 November 1987. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Section 5 Tournaments and Events" (PDF). New Zealand Golf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  21. "Thomas reinforces claim". The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 1994. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Lisa Dermott". The Daily Telegraph. 22 May 1996. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Curtis Cup star Vicki Thomas". The Glasgow Herald. 26 June 1989. p. 22.
  24. "Senior Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship 2009". LGU. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  25. "Vicki Thomas". Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
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