Albane Valenzuela
Albane Ines Marie Valenzuela (born 17 December 1997) is a Swiss professional golfer and a two-time Olympian. She was born in New York City[1] to a Mexican father and French mother. She became a Swiss citizen at age 14.[2][3]
| Albane Valenzuela | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | 17 December 1997 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Sporting nationality | Switzerland |
| Residence | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Career | |
| College | Stanford University |
| Turned professional | 2019 |
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour |
| Best results in LPGA major championships | |
| Chevron Championship | T4: 2023 |
| Women's PGA C'ship | T46: 2021 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 24th: 2018 |
| Women's British Open | T29: 2021 |
| Evian Championship | T27: 2022 |
Amateur career Edit
Valenzuela took low amateur honors at the 2016 ANA Inspiration.[4] She also made the cut at the 2016 U.S. Women's Open.[3] She had two top-5 finishes on the Ladies European Tour in 2016 and a top-10 finish in the 2014 Lacoste Ladies French Open with a tournament low round of 64.
Valenzuela qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5] She was the number one ranked golfer in Switzerland and reached number two in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Valenzuela also won the European Golf Association European Order of Merit in 2018.
Valenzuela reached the final of the 2017 U.S. Women's Amateur, losing to Sophia Schubert, 6 and 5.[6] In 2019, she again reached the finals, losing to Gabriela Ruffels, 1 up.[7] Valenzuela was also runner-up in the European Ladies Amateur Championship in 2017.
Valenzuela played college golf at Stanford University before turning professional in late 2019.[8] Valenzuela was named Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2019 and was a Ping/WGCA First Team All-American. She was a recipient of the WGCA's Edith Cummings Munson Award which is given to one of the top collegiate female golfers who excels in academics. She was also named to the Google Cloud CoSIDA first team Academic All-American. She graduated in 2020 with a degree in political science and was awarded Phi Beta Kappa.[9]
Professional career Edit
Valenzuela turned professional after earning her LPGA Tour card by finishing T-6 at Q Series in November 2019.[8] She represented Switzerland at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Amateur wins Edit
- 2013 Swiss National Match Play Championship (with Rachel Rossel), Bulgarian Amateur Open
- 2014 Swiss International Championship
- 2015 Spanish International Stroke Play, Doral Publix Junior Classic, Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship
- 2017 NCAA Albuquerque Regional
- 2018 East Lake Cup
- 2019 Pac-12 Championship
Sources:[10]
Results in LPGA majors Edit
Results not in chronological order.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | T65 | 59 | T66 | CUT | T53 | T4 | |||
| Women's PGA Championship | CUT | T46 | CUT | T61 | |||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T67 | 24 | CUT | T59 | |||||
| The Evian Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | T37 | NT | CUT | T27 | T42 |
| Women's British Open | T29 | T54 | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied
Team appearances Edit
Amateur
- Junior Vagliano Trophy (representing the Continent of Europe): 2013 (winners)
- Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Switzerland): 2014, 2018
- Junior Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 2015
- Vagliano Trophy (representing the Continent of Europe): 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners), 2019 (winners)
- Patsy Hankins Trophy (representing Europe): 2016
- Arnold Palmer Cup (representing the International team): 2018
- European Ladies' Team Championship (representing Switzerland): 2014, 2015, 2017
- European Girls' Team Championship (representing Switzerland): 2012, 2013
References Edit
- ^ Geske, Joey (8 August 2019). "Meet the 2019 Quarterfinalists". USGA.
- ^ Van Smith, Bill (29 December 2015). "Albane Valenzuela hopes third time's a charm at Jr. Orange Bowl golf tournament". Miami Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ a b Nichols, Beth Ann (11 July 2016). "Swiss amateur Albane Valenzuela prepares to realize Olympic dream". Golfweek. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Herrington, Ryan (8 July 2016). "With all the talk of pros playing (or not) in the Olympics, two amateurs are about to qualify for Rio". Golf Digest. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ "Albane Valenzuela qualifiée pour Rio" (in French). Léman Bleu Télévision. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Nichols, Beth Ann (14 August 2017). "U.S. Women's Amateur title picture perfect moment for Sophia Schubert". Golfweek.
- ^ "Ruffels 1st Aussie to win U.S. Women's Amateur". ESPN. Associated Press. 11 August 2019.
- ^ a b Nichols, Beth Ann (13 November 2019). "Albane Valenzuela opts to leave Stanford golf to live out LPGA dream". Golfweek.
- ^ "Valenzuela qualifies for Rio". Stanford Athletics. 12 July 2016.
- ^ "Albane Valenzuela". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
External links Edit
- Albane Valenzuela at the LPGA Tour official site
- Albane Valenzuela at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site
- at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)