1986 Women's British Open: Laura Davies wins at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Laura Davies won the 1986 Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England with 283 (−9), by 4 strokes over Peggy Conley and Marta Figueras-Dotti.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the AIG Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- 9 October 1986 to 12 October 1986
- Course
- Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England
- Edition
- 10th edition
- Counted as a major
- no (the event became a major later, or was one only in other years)
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 73
- Purse
- £60,000 · winner's share £9,000
- Champion
- Laura Davies · age 23 · England · born Coventry, Warwickshire, England
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event
- Winning score
- 71-73-69-70 = 283 (−9) · won by 4 strokes
- Runners-up
- Peggy Conley, Marta Figueras-Dotti (287 each)
- Low amateur
- Vicki Thomas (289)
Winner and runners-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura Davies | 71 | 73 | 69 | 70 | 283 | −9 |
| T2 | Peggy Conley | 287 | |||||
| T2 | Marta Figueras-Dotti | 287 |
What happened at the 1986 Women's British Open
Laura Davies, in only her second year as a professional, won by four strokes with 283, the lowest 72-hole total in the championship's history until Jane Geddes broke it in 1989.
Ten months later Davies won the U.S. Women's Open, becoming the first player to hold the British and U.S. women's titles at the same time.
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).