Former European Solheim Cup Captain Dale Reid Dies Aged 64

The two-time Solheim Cup captain has passed away after a battle with cancer

Dale Reid at the ANZ Australian Ladies Masters
Dale Reid has died at the age of 64 after a battle with cancer
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Two-time European Solheim Cup captain Dale Reid has died of cancer at the age of 64.

After taking up the game at the age of four, Reid turned professional in 1979 and eventually played for the Europeans against the US in the biennial match four times, in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1996.

After claiming a total of 4.5 points as a player and emerging on the winning team in 1992, in 2000 she led the team to victory in her homeland at Loch Lomond. That was only Europe’s second win over its rivals in 11 attempts and the achievement saw her named an OBE on the Queen’s 2001 New Year’s Honours List.

Reid’s success in the match was enough for her to keep the role for the 2002 edition in Minnesota, but on that occasion, the Europeans came up short by 15.5 points to 12.5 points.

Away from the Solheim Cup, Reid enjoyed a hugely successful career on the LET, where she claimed 21 wins, with the first coming in the 1980 Carlsberg Coventry tournament and the last coming in 1991 at the Bloor Homes Eastleigh Classic. There, she shot a final round 58 on the par 65 course – her lowest round on the LET. She also won the LET Order of Merit twice, in 1984 and 1987.

Reid, who was made a life member of the LET after her 20th win in 1991, accumulated a record 135 top 10 finishes on the Tour between 1979 and 2005. 

Among Reid's other achievements where representing Scotland in the 1992 World Team Championship, while she also earned exempt status to the LPGA Tour for the 1997 season.

Reid passed away peacefully in Townsville, Australia on 8 November.

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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.