Beth Allen (born December 6, 1981) is an American professional golfer who has played on the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour (LET). She won three times on the LET and became the first American to win the LET Order of Merit.[1]

Beth Allen
Personal information
Born (1981-12-06) December 6, 1981 (age 42)
Ojai, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Career
CollegeCalifornia State University at Northridge
Turned professional2005
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour
Ladies European Tour
Professional wins4
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour3
ALPG Tour1
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipCUT: 2017
Women's PGA C'shipCUT: 2015, 2017
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2006, 2016, 2017
Women's British OpenT14: 2016
Evian ChampionshipT64: 2015
Achievements and awards
Ladies European Tour
Order of Merit
2016
Ladies European Tour
Player of the Year
2016

Early life

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Allen grew up in San Diego, California and started to play golf at age 16. She credits her father, PGA Professional Jim Allen, as the most influential individual in her career.[2]

Allen attended California State University at Northridge and became the first from her school to qualify for the LPGA Tour.[3]

Career

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Allen turned professional after finishing tied for 25th at the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.[4] She played on the LPGA Tour from 2005 to 2008 with a best finish of T23 at the 2006 Wendy's Championship for Children. She played in the 2006 US Women's Open but did not make the cut.[3]

Allen finished sixth at LET Final Qualifying School to qualify for the Ladies European Tour for the 2008 season. In 2009, recorded a career best T3 at the SAS Ladies Masters at Larvik Golfklubb in Norway. In 2010, her season-best finish was T7 at the ABN AMRO Ladies Open in the Netherlands, and she finished T9 at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open in Austria.

In March 2011, Allen donated a kidney to her brother who had been suffering with a kidney disorder for 12 years. She returned to compete on the tour just two months later, in May.[2]

Allen came close to a first title as she was runner-up in the 2011 Open de España Femenino at La Quinta Golf & Country Club, a stroke behind winner Melissa Reid. She also finished runner-up at the 2012 ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters, a stroke behind Lydia Hall, and again at the 2013 Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.

In 2015, she won her first LET event at the Ladies European Masters with former European Solheim Cup winner Sophie Gustafson on her bag, a stroke ahead of Irish amateur Leona Maguire in second.[2]

Allen had her best season in 2016. She won the Lacoste Ladies Open de France and the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi back-to-back, matching the course record of 64 in the final round and holding off Georgia Hall by three strokes.[5] She won the 2016 LET Order of Merit and received the LET Player of the Year award. Allen recorded a T14 at the 2016 Women's British Open at Woburn, her best finish in a major.

She also regained her LPGA Tour card for 2017 via the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, where she recorded a season-best of T7 at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open.[3]

Allen resided in Edinburgh, Scotland, after marrying Clare Queen, a former LET player and Scottish Golf's performance director in 2016.[6][7] In 2022, she retired from tour to become the new head coach of the Urban Knights women's golf program at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.[8]

Professional wins (4)

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Ladies European Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning
score
To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 5 Jul 2015 Ladies European Masters 71-70-68-67=276 −12 1 stroke   Leona Maguire (a)
2 9 Oct 2016 Lacoste Ladies Open de France 64-67-68-67=266 −14 4 strokes   Diana Luna
  Florentyna Parker
3 5 Nov 2016 Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open 66-68-69-64=267 −21 3 strokes   Georgia Hall

ALPG Tour wins (1)

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  • 2015 Pennant Hills ALPG Pro-Am

References

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  1. ^ Mickey, Lisa D. (September 5, 2019). "Beth Allen Finds Home and Success in Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Beth Allen Bio". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Beth Allen Bio". LPGA Tour. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "Beth Allen – Full Stats". Fox Sports. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Jackson, Keith (November 5, 2016). "Beth Allen holds off Georgia Hall to win in Abu Dhabi". Sky Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "A golfer in Scotland: Beth Allen's experiences". Visit Scotland. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  7. ^ "Beth Allen 'proud' of Mel Reid". The Scotsman. December 12, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  8. ^ "Beth Allen Named Academy of Art Women's Golf Head Coach". Academy of Art University. October 18, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
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