Alison Nicholas: Walking Tall

By Madeleine Winnett

Alison Nicholas, MBE, is one of Great Britain’s most successful golfers. In a professional career spanning more than 20 years, she claimed 18 tournament wins including the British Open, topped the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit and, in 1997, won the most prestigious championship in golf – the US Open. Her aggregate ten-under-par total was, at the time, the lowest recorded in the history of the championship and led to her becoming The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, and the LET Players' Player of the Year.

In turn, Alison is well known for her Solheim Cup exploits. She played in six, and captained the European team to a famous victory at Killeen Castle in 2011. Images of the team celebrating in front of the windswept castle have become iconic.

In this candid and entertaining book, Alison explores her years on both the LET and LPGA Tours, the ups and downs, her tournament records, her faith, and – of course – the Solheim Cup. Filled with anecdotes from the other side of the ropes, behind-the-scenes insights, and images from her private photo collection, the book charts the hard work, focus, attitude and good times that led to Alison Nicholas Walking Tall.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennion Kearny
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910515440

Book preview

Alison Nicholas: Walking Tall

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Madeleine Winnett

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[Smashwords Edition]

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Published in 2015 by Bennion Kearny Limited.

Copyright © Bennion Kearny Ltd 2015

ISBN: 9781910515440

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that it which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Bennion Kearny has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Bennion Kearny cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Published by Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

www.BennionKearny.com

Cover image ©Steve Dipaola

Internal Images © Alison Nicholas / Alison Nicholas Private Collection, ©AP/PA (C14; Holding aloft The US Open trophy, C20; Solheim Cup Team Announcement Press Conference,), © Callaway Golf Company (C13; Signing contract), © Charles Briscoe-Knight (C18; Teaching Angel), © Charles Green (C15; MBE), © Jennifer Mackenzie (C4; IBM Golf Team), © John Gress (C14; Holding aloft The US Open trophy), © Ladies European Tour (C21; Lift Doors, Press Conference. C22; Moment of Victory, Celebrating), © Michael Conroy C20; Solheim Cup Team Announcement Press Conference), © TT/PA (C18; Golf Buggy Team) © Today’s Golfer (C11; Stretching Exercises), © Tristan Jones (C21; Lift Doors, Press Conference. C22; Moment of Victory, Celebrating)

Table of Contents

Title Page

About Madeleine Winnett

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Dedication

Chapter 1: Finding The Fairway

Chapter 2: Life on the Open Road

Chapter 3: Side by Side

Chapter 4: Always the Bridesmaid

Chapter 5: Best of British

Chapter 6: On a Roll

Chapter 7: Faith, Hope, and Charity

Chapter 8: The Solheim Vision

Chapter 9: Bravehearts

Chapter 10: The Land of Opportunity

Chapter 11: The Hard Yards

Chapter 12: The Eagle has Landed

Chapter 13: So Near and Yet So Far

Chapter 14: The American Dream

Chapter 15: Life in the Fast Line

Chapter 16: The Sun Sets over Hawaii

Chapter 17: The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond

Chapter 18: The Other Side of the Ropes

Chapter 19: When One Door Closes

Chapter 20: Sowing the Seeds

Chapter 21: When Irish Eyes are Smiling

Chapter 22: Walking Tall

Epilogue

Other Golf Titles from Bennion Kearny

About Madeleine Winnett

Madeleine Winnett grew up in Staffordshire with a keen love of sport and horses. She went to Millfield school on a squash scholarship and then rode for Birmingham University before venturing onto the fairways in 1985. It was a love affair which has never died and which led her getting down to a handicap of 2, playing golf for Staffordshire for twenty-seven years and becoming lady captain of Trentham Golf Club in 2011. A successful career as an English teacher eventually led Madeleine back to her beloved Millfield for ten years before establishing herself as a golf writer for publications such as Women & Golf, Fore Magazine, Today's Golfer and as a columnist for Lady Golfer since 2003. Once dubbed The Jeremy Clarkson of the golf world, as an introduction to her alternative career as an after dinner speaker, Madeleine's satirical first book - Madeleine Winnett Writes Some Wrongs – was published in 2008.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I would like to acknowledge how deeply grateful I am to my family and friends for their support, instruction, encouragement and love over the years, which has enabled me to achieve all I have in golf & in life. Special thanks go to my sister Helen for managing me for several years and taking care of things at home when I have been away.

Thanks to my fellow competitors who have challenged & inspired me through my golfing career to get better and be the best I can be.

And finally, to the golf supporters, club members and sports fans, simply thank you for your support.

Special Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks go to Madeleine Winnett for the endless work she put into getting this manuscript finished. It has been a long journey but she has transformed all my meanderings, bringing such definition and order to capture my story very well – thank you for your hard work.

Thanks go to Bennion Kearny, and my publisher James Lumsden-Cook, for their assistance and patience in developing this book.

Since this book covers many years over the course of my life, I have tried to record the people, places and events as best as I can recollect. I humbly apologise in advance for any inadvertent errors on my part or if I have forgotten to mention anyone specifically.

Alison

Foreword

I first met Ali back around 1980 on the amateur circuit and we have certainly been a big part of each other’s lives ever since. We got on immediately with me calling her Big Al and her calling me Tiny, and there aren’t very many memories I have in golf that don’t feature Ali. In the 35, or 36 years that I have known her, we’ve only had one falling out in all that time.

We first played each other in the Intermediates final in the early eighties. I am, of course, bringing this up because I managed to win that one though she has beaten me many times since. After a few years of competing together as amateurs, Ali turned professional a year earlier than I did in 1984. When she brought along her first professional cheque for something like £500, I cannot tell you how jealous Penny Grice Whittaker and I were!

Ali has had a fantastic career, which I have enjoyed witnessing from a front row seat. She is friendly, upbeat and she would never do anyone a bad turn if she could do them a good turn. She is the most positive person you could ever be with. While her Solheim Cup successes and subsequent role as captain may be, in her opinion, her biggest achievement, for me the highlight was definitely her remarkable 1997 US Open win. Ali beat the greatest American golfer of all time, Nancy Lopez, to win the US Open, thus denying Nancy the one Major she had never won.

This book takes me on a trip down memory lane. We have shared so much in our golf careers, from travelling together and sharing rooms in the early days of our travels to the US, to playing together and competing together over the last 35 years. So for me, reading this book is like catching up with an old friend.

Dame Laura Davies, DBE

Dedication

In memory of my Father who sadly passed away earlier this year. Without his vision, I would never have been on this incredible journey.

Chapter 1: Finding The Fairway

The best things come in small packages.

I arrived into this world on 6th March, 1962, nearly four weeks early, to the surprise of my mother, and weighing a mere 4lbs 10oz. Subsequently, I grew to be 5 feet in my spikes, but diminutive size isn’t something that has ever held me back – and both Joan of Arc and Queen Victoria were only 4ft 11in, so clearly stature isn’t a limiting factor. Despite being the youngest of three girls, I may be the ‘little’ sister in name to both Helen and Hilary, but I also happen to be the tallest!

Apparently, I proved to be a wilful child. After a particularly epic tantrum following a playtime cut short, my mother bundled me into the car to take me home. We had a Hillman Imp in those days, and as it had no seat belts, without anything to constrain me, I opened the car door in an attempt to escape. As my mother was driving at the time, she was sufficiently terrified by my antics to hold onto me all the way back.

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[above image] Aged six, at Primary School

In hindsight, it was probably quite fitting that I was born in the tiny territory of Gibraltar – an area of just 2.6 square miles and a place which subsequently became known as one of the Pillars of Hercules – but it was purely by chance, as my father was stationed there doing his National Service. He was a doctor, which is how he met my mother, as they trained together at The Middlesex Hospital. She qualified as a nurse, whilst my father ultimately became a consultant anaesthetist.

Ensuing generations often tend to follow their parents into the medical profession, but I was never particularly academic. I attended the boarding School of St. Mary and St. Anne, Abbotts Bromley, in Staffordshire, developing a classic love-hate relationship with school. In retrospect, some invaluable lessons were learned – namely, the importance of discipline and hard work. P.E. was undoubtedly my favourite subject, closely followed by Cookery, Biology and Maths. After teachers told me that I wasn’t very good at numerous subjects, I tended to believe them, and therefore didn’t really see the point in trying.

This early lack of confidence had a negative impact on me and became something I have struggled with for most of my life. Knowing that my father was a Cambridge graduate and that both my sisters were doing well at school, only served to increase the pressure. Subsequently, nerves, inadequate studying and poor exam techniques resulted in me passing only two O Levels.

Naturally, I was made fun of – because of my size – at school. It didn’t help that on Speech Day the whole school had to line up in height order. This included both the junior and senior pupils, and unfortunately, when I took my place, I was actually only fourth in height overall! Therefore, much to my humiliation, and the amusement of my friends, I was relegated to the ranks of the juniors for the procession.

School, however, was a stable place in an otherwise turbulent period of my life. My parents had split up when I was in my early teens, although my father subsequently remarried. Initially, I remained living with my mother, who also went on to form another long-term partnership. Whilst we were in Sheffield, I spent a lot of time with two friends, Sarah Leach and Hannah Lee, who were committed Christians, and they had a big impact on me – as did the religious aspects of school.

Abbotts Bromley was a high church, Woodard school. We had prayers at assembly, morning services, evensong and Compline, and I can clearly remember a monk coming to speak to us as part of an R.E. lesson one day, whose words really resonated with me. As my faith developed further, I was subsequently confirmed in Lichfield cathedral.

My enjoyment of P.E. continued and I flourished on the sports field, winning my cricket and tennis colours, so my father encouraged me to develop my tennis during the school holidays. I began to play regularly with my afore mentioned friend, Sarah, who was my doubles partner. We did reasonably well in local events, but the time came to test the waters at the next level and see if it could be a possible career path for me.

After being soundly beaten 6 – 0, 6 – 0 by Kate Brasher in the Manchester Open, it appeared that this avenue was closed. She significantly outplayed me, and took advantage of my height by lobbing me on a regular basis. This defeat, combined with the lack of progress in a few other competitions, effectively ended any hopes of tennis stardom. I realised I was not good enough, young enough or tall enough. As a small consolation, I was pleased to discover, a few years later, that Kate Brasher had made it to Wimbledon, which was at least some compensation for my crushing defeat.

With limited qualifications, the soul searching then began – what was I going to do with my life? Dad suggested that I try golf, and I took to it like a duck to water. He was a good golfer, playing off 3, and he impressively won The Piccadilly Championship of Yorkshire. The win gave him the chance to play with Jack Nicklaus but, to my surprise, he turned it down!

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I started to take the game up seriously at the age of seventeen and had weekly lessons at the Arnold Palmer Driving Range, Dore and Totley, (now the Moor View Golf Centre) with the pro, Richard Bennett. There was a crazy putt putt course – complete with novelty windmills – as well as a 9-hole pitch and putt course, which made golf fun. Unfortunately, Richard has sadly died now, but he was widely regarded as the best teacher in Sheffield, and he remained my coach for many years.

Dad wanted me to have lessons right from the start because he knew the importance of adopting the correct techniques and habits which would enable me to hit the ball reasonably well as soon as possible – hopefully preventing me from digging up the golf course! Beginners often play on an eighteen hole course too soon, which can demotivate them because of the difficulty of the game. However, with our approach to having fun on a mini course, it enabled me to progress very quickly without becoming discouraged.

I was extremely proud of my first clubs – Ben Sayers Pro Power – which consisted of a 9, 7 and 5 iron, and gradually I added to the set until I got up to a 2 iron. They came from the Golf Scene shop in Sheffield where my father knew the owner, and I loved them. They were topped off by an orange pencil bag which I had to carry over my shoulder whilst catching two buses in order to get to my lessons. That’s dedication for you!

On visiting the driving range for a practice session, my father, after watching me hit a few shots, turned to my stepmother and said, I can see she’s going to be very, very good at this. Richard agreed, so that was, in effect, the moment my golfing journey began. I really enjoyed my lessons with Richard, who was very encouraging – unlike many of my teachers at school. In life, it is really important to find people who support you, and probably one of the main reasons I took to the game so well was because of his enthusiasm.

Years later, in an interview with Golf Weekly, Richard recalled our early association: I can remember it as if it was yesterday. It was winter and her dad had this little girl with him and said, ‘I want you to give Alison two lessons a week, and within a year, I want her to be single figures.’ She had already tried tennis and squash but she had that determination and turned out to be the perfect pupil. Her main attribute was she was not afraid to work. She was small but had the hand-eye co-ordination and the determination to work from breakfast to dusk.

After completing my first six months of lessons, and with my game progressing well, I joined Hallamshire Golf Club – which transpired to be the first and only club of which I became a member. A Harry Colt-designed course, sitting five thousand feet above sea level and located close to the city of Sheffield and the Peak District National Park, Hallamshire was a challenging test, but it was always in great condition and ensured that playing other courses seemed easy by comparison.

During my first rounds with my father, when I was doing my cards to obtain a handicap, I remember him telling me not to do too well, because my handicap was going to be too low to start with, which would inevitably be more difficult to play to. Proudly, I started off with a handicap of 30*, after returning my first card of 119, on 14th March 1979 (eight days after my seventeenth birthday), followed by ones of 118, 108 and 103. Less than two months later, I broke 100 for the first time, and by the end of May, my handicap was down to 18.

Away from home, I also started to have some impressive results relatively quickly. I shot a gross 86 at Pontefract in the Regional Qualifying for the De Beers Junior Championship, played to 10 at Selsdon Park in the De Beers Junior National Championship, and then played to 8 after I had only been playing for five months.

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[above image] Competing at The De Beers Junior Championship

On the back of these results, and the fact that my handicap had come down to 10 in my first year, I started to be noticed at county level and quickly became involved in Yorkshire’s junior coaching programme. Jim Thompson, the junior organiser at Hallamshire, was very encouraging, and in what turned out to be a rather prophetic gift, he bought me a Nancy Lopez book to inspire me. I had my first hole in one when I was eighteen, in the Yorkshire Women’s Golf Challenge Bowl, and within two years I was down to scratch.

Since I was showing such good promise, my father gave me four years to see what I could do in the game, and he contributed towards my expenses, whilst I had to fund the rest. Unfortunately, I got into a small amount of debt, and, annoyingly at the time, Dad decided that he wasn’t going to bale me out of my financial troubles since he thought I should sort it out myself. In hindsight, this was a shrewd move by him as, through that tough love approach, he taught me how to manage my money within my means, and I have never been in debt since.

In the winter, my father often went to Spain with Eurogolf, a company which organised golf holidays. In 1981, I went with him and stayed for a month, practising and playing every day, which was hugely beneficial – especially as Hallamshire was so high, even if it wasn’t under snow, the temperature certainly wasn’t conducive to long hours of practice!

To help finance my golf in the winter, I began a series of part-time jobs – most of which were very mundane. After only a week’s training, I was placed in charge of the CSSU department of the Hallamshire Hospital (the sterilising unit for the ear, nose and throat theatres) where most of my time was spent cutting and packing drains.

Other jobs included various roles with the Guardian Angels Bureau, which provided home care for people. These ranged from childcare – where I was hit squarely on the nose by a train, thrown with force by the small boy I was supervising – to looking after the elderly. Providing lunch every day for an old lady who was dying of cancer in a blackened room was extremely difficult as I was aged only 19 at the time, and it was hard trying to make conversation in an attempt to cheer her up.

In my Guardian Angel capacity, I also became a cleaner – a role at which I became very good. I had to clean a twelve-room house in three hours, and the kitchen floor was always caked in ketchup and peas. It is amazing how your character traits come through in even the most mundane of jobs, as I was determined to make that floor spotless each time.

Another of the ladies I used to clean for rented her basement to a student, but he was less problematic than the slugs who shared the room. They left trails all over the floor, which I had to remove – a job I didn’t like doing at all. In a scene reminiscent of Tom Brown’s School Days, the lady also used to run a finger down her banisters to check that I’d dusted them properly. Obviously, I must have passed the test, because she always requested to have me back. I didn’t mind the banisters, but I really did not enjoy going back to clean the slug trails. However, with an overdraft of £300, sentiment was a luxury I couldn’t afford, and every £2.50 I earned was like gold!

I practised when I could around these jobs in the winter, and then played as much as possible during the summer. I also played for money in chipping and putting competitions as much as I could. The stakes weren’t high – 50p or £1 maximum – but it all helped to build in a competitive element, which you need to play well at the highest level.

Inspiration for high-level sport didn’t just come from golf. Events like Wimbledon and the Olympics offered great opportunities to learn from other competitors and feed off their spirit. Of course, the passion of the Ryder Cup was unparalleled and I used to love to watch and learn from the male Tour players, (with Seve and Ian Woosnam being my particular favourites). A real highlight was going to watch them play at The Open. As a family, we used to stay in a caravan, which was great fun, and I watched Seve win at Lytham, and Tom Watson at Birkdale, from the stands at the side of the 18th green. Those experiences only confirmed that being a Tour Professional was what I wanted to do. I was always inspired by the performances of Nick Faldo, Woosnam, Seve, and Sandy Lyle, and their success seemed to spur me on.

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The county team used to be picked primarily after performances in the county championships. However, in 1981, the Championship was cancelled because of heavy snow, so the team had to be selected independently. Thus, it was something of a surprise phone call when Sue Johnson, the Yorkshire county captain, called me up to play for the 1st team at County week, along with Penny Grice Whittaker.

We were considered by a lot of people to be two controversial picks, and they questioned what we had done to deserve our places when we were largely unknown. However, the captain, in conjunction with Shirley Grimshaw, the junior organiser, saw our potential and took the risk of playing us. Happily, we didn’t let her down!

I shared a room with Penny, and since she was only 16, and therefore underage, as her roommate I was asked not to drink. It may seem tame now, but it felt quite daring at the time when Pat Smillie smuggled half a lager into the room for me. Going against the captain’s orders would not have boded well had she found out. Penny was my foursomes partner in subsequent years but during our first County week we were paired with experienced players. Penny was a really good player and a great ball striker. Far better than me!

Having been encouraged by the improvements I had made as a result of my previous stint of warm winter training, I decided to repeat the exercise, this time in Jersey. Hospitality for the month was provided by a delightful lady, Lorraine Determeyer, who was brilliant – rather like my mum! I still look on Royal Jersey GC and so many of its welcoming lady members with great affection to this day.

Apart from my family, Maureen Lockett and Sue Johnson were perhaps my greatest supporters at both club and county, although most of the ladies’ section at the Hallamshire encouraged me, played with me and cajoled me to improve. At times, these people also pulled me back into line when I needed it. Golf is a frustrating game, and I used to lose my temper when things went wrong. Launching a club into the air when things don’t go according to plan is never going to go down well with those who witness it, so after my own club-throwing fit of pique, they had a word with me, telling me not to do it again. I certainly didn’t like it at the time, but I realised the benefit of their words later, and never repeated it.

Maureen’s words of wisdom came to the fore, again, following my rather hasty departure from the course after I had lost in the semi-finals of the Sheffield and District Championship at Dore and Totley. I was so competitive, I just didn’t like losing. Giving me a strategy to help me lose more gracefully, she told me to grit my teeth, smile sweetly and shake hands whilst thinking, ‘I’ll beat you next time!’ It may have been a sound philosophy, but I immediately burst into tears!

I continued to play for the county for the next four years, under the nickname Mighty Atom. In the early days, I found it quite hard to harness my tenacity and aggression because I was so competitive. Apart from anything else, I needed to succeed as I had no other career path to fall back on. A lack of options tends to concentrate the mind – even if to my detriment on occasions – but it also brought me success. I won the County Championships with Sue caddying for me in 1984.

I began playing in every major amateur competition I could and became Northern Girls’ champion in 1982, at Sandmoor, before repeating the feat in 1983 at Delamere Forest. In 1982, I had my first taste of playing alongside the professionals in the British Open at Birkdale – the pinnacle of the women’s game. Happily, I made the cut, although in those days, nearly half the field for the last two rounds was made up of amateurs. However, in spite of the prestige of the event, I remember it primarily for being given a pair of tights – in a fairly horrific shade – as the Championship was sponsored by Pretty Polly!

I then won the Northern Open Foursomes with Penny, and another step forward was being runner-up in the English Intermediates after Laura Davies beat me 2 & 1 in the final. I used to call her ‘Tiny’, and it was during that match that Laura dubbed me ‘Big Al’ for the first time – a nickname that has stuck ever since.

Following my loss there, things didn’t get any better when Laura, Penny and I were travelling in convoy to a tournament immediately afterwards. Laura’s love of sports cars is now legendary, but in those days, her pride and joy was an Austin Allegro. Penny was driving my car, which she somehow managed to plough into the back of Laura’s. Every teenager’s nightmare is having to confess to a parent that they have crashed the car, so at the time, I was less concerned about Laura’s wrath than the prospect of telling my father!

However, the highlight of my amateur career undoubtedly had to be winning the 1983 British Strokeplay Championship at Moortown. Against a par of 74, I returned scores of 71, 75, and 70 in the first three rounds, but the final round didn’t start too well, when I double bogeyed two of the par 3s on the front nine, to lose my three-stroke lead. Thankfully, I then came back in one under. My father was caddying for me, and I needed a four up the last to win – which certainly wasn’t a formality when I proceeded to drive into the bunker! After I knocked it out, Dad told me to aim for the clock on the clubhouse, but I hit it right of the target. Fortunately, the ball kicked back and then I holed the putt, thus managing to secure the win. My weakness as a player in those days was my ball striking, but I was renowned for having a great short game. My four under par total was the lowest winning aggregate in the fifteen-year history of the event.

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[above image] 1983 British Amateur Stroke Play Championship

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To this day, I have the unfortunate accolade of being the only British amateur champion not to have played for England, and that certainly hurt at the time. Initially, when I