Below is a post from Ladybank Golf Club in respect for Dale Reid
Our thoughts are with all Dales family & friends at this sad time
DALE REID OBE
Ladybank Golf Club Honorary Member, Dale Reid OBE, sadly passed away on Tuesday, 8th November in Queensland, Australia, where she had lived after retiring from golf since 2010. Aged 64, Dale had battled cancer with the courage and humour she was so well known for.
Coming from a strong and supportive family embedded in Ladybank and the golf club, Dale was bound to play golf and she did so from the age of 4, going on to become a junior member of Ladybank Golf Club. She progressed through the amateur ranks winning the Ladies’ Club Championship in seven consecutive years from 1973 to 1979, playing regularly for the Fife County Ladies’ team and in 1978 and 1979 for Scotland in the Ladies’ Home International matches. Then, in 1979, still relatively young at 20 years of age, she turned professional - a brave decision considering the Women’s Professional Golf Association had been founded only one year earlier with few players and a schedule of only twelve 36 hole events and a prize fund of £80,000.
In 1981 Ladybank Golf Club recognised her achievements by making her an Honorary Member of the club and she continued to be a great ambassador for the club throughout her golfing career.
As the women’s professional tour grew, so did Dale’s success and she became one of the most celebrated players in the Tour’s history topping the Order of Merit in 1984 and 1987 and winning 21 times between 1980 and 1991 when she was made a Lifetime Member of the Tour. Her wins in 1991 included the Bloor Homes Eastleigh Classic when she recorded her lowest round on Tour – a 7 under par 58 - all the more impressive that being in the final round. In 1992 Dale represented Scotland in the World Team Championship in Taiwan and in 1996 she successfully came through the Qualification process to gain her “card” to play on the American Ladies’ Professional Golf Association Tour following that up with her US career Tour best finish of tied fourth in the SAFECO Classic. In 1999 she came close to winning her first victory in eight years finishing tied second in the Austrian Open. Throughout her whole career Dale performed to a consistently high standard marked by her record number of 135 top ten finishes recorded between 1979 and 2005.
The Solheim Cup was where Dale was perhaps seen at her best. She played in the European team in 1990,1992,1994 and 1996 and contributed a vital point to the Europeans’ first victory in the Cup at Dalmahoy in 1992 when she defeated by 3&2 the USA’s fieriest and possibly best player, Dottie Pepper. It was a great win to witness. Later, in 2000 at Loch Lomond, Dale captained the European team to a glorious second win of the Cup defeating the USA by 14.5 to 11.5 points. It was fitting that these achievements were recognised and honoured in 2001 when Dale was awarded an OBE.
Dale was a popular character, highly regarded and respected by everyone she came into contact with in her outstanding golfing career. She was honest and straight-talking but always with humour and never any malice. She enjoyed life and she did things her way – a way that worked. She never forgot her Ladybank roots of which she was very proud. She kindly gifted the ‘Dale Reid Salver’ to the club and it is competed for annually by the club’s ladies and more recently Dale generously donated to the club the replica Solheim Cup she received as a player in the inaugural Solheim Cup match of 1990 at Lake Nona and which the club is very proud to display in the clubhouse. She will be greatly missed.
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