1979 Women's British Open: Alison Sheard wins at Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club
Alison Sheard won the 1979 Women's British Open at Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England with 301 (+5), by 3 strokes over Mickey Walker.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the AIG Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- 26 July 1979 to 28 July 1979
- Course
- Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England
- Edition
- 4th edition
- Counted as a major
- no (the event became a major later, or was one only in other years)
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Purse
- £10,000 · winner's share £3,000
- Champion
- Alison Sheard · South Africa · born Durban, South Africa
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event
- Winning score
- 83-74-72-72 = 301 (+5) · won by 3 strokes
- Runner-up
- Mickey Walker (304)
- Low amateur
- Sue Hedges (309)
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alison Sheard | 83 | 74 | 72 | 72 | 301 | +5 |
| 2 | Mickey Walker | 304 |
What happened at the 1979 Women's British Open
Alison Sheard opened with an 83 but recovered with rounds of 74, 72 and 72 to win by three strokes from Mickey Walker.
Sheard became the first non-British champion, and Sue Hedges (309) became the first winner of the new Smyth Salver for the leading amateur.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's AIG Women's Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: womens-golf-majors_dataset_2026-10-20.json (GNN's women's majors research set, "master" row for this year, research dated October 20, 2026).