Dottie Pepper

Pepper was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her father, Don, was a major league baseball player, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a "rookie to watch", along with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, in 1968. Her career began with big amateur victories in her home state of New York. She won the 1981 state amateur and the 1981 and 1983 New York Junior Amateur titles. She was a member of the 1981 Junior World Cup team and low amateur at the 1984 U.S. Women's Open. She attended Furman University, where she earned five collegiate victories and was named All-American three times.

Pepper joined the LPGA Tour in 1988 and won 17 official events on the Tour, including two major championships: the 1992 and 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore. Her 19-under-par finish in the 1999 victory still stands as the lowest score in relation to par in a major championship. She topped the money list in 1992 and finished in the top ten in ten of eleven seasons between 1991 and 2001. Pepper also played for the United States in the Solheim Cup six times.

Due to injury problems, Pepper played only one tournament in 2002. In July 2004 she announced that she would retire at the end of the season. In 2005, she began work as a golf commentator for NBC and The Golf Channel, reporting on both men's and women's events.

During the 2007 Solheim Cup, Pepper caused some stir while working as commentator for the Golf Channel. She called the American team "choking freaking dogs". She thought the network had cut to commercial when the comment was uttered, but it was actually still broadcasting live. Some players and fans were upset by this and Pepper quickly apologized for her "poor choice of words".{{cite web |url=http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/15/964609-pepper-adds-spice-to-solheim-cup |title=Pepper Adds Spice to Solheim Cup |first=Eddie |last=Pells |agency=Associated Press |publisher=newsvine |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

In July 2012 Pepper was named by captain Meg Mallon as one of two assistant captains for the U.S. Team at the 2013 Solheim Cup.{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/golf/lpga/story/2012-07-04/dottie-pepper-named-solheim-cup-assistant-captain/56013956/1 |title=Dottie Pepper named assistant captain for Solheim Cup |newspaper=USA Today |first=Steve |last=DiMeglio |date=July 4, 2012 |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

Pepper retired from commentating in December 2012, tired of the traveling and wanting to spend more time promoting junior golf as a PGA of America board member.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2012/12/18/dottie-pepper-leaves-nbc-sports-after-8-years/1778207/ |title=Dottie Pepper moves on from TV golf |newspaper=USA Today |agency=Associated Press |date=December 18, 2012 |access-date=May 16, 2013}} In May 2013, she signed a contract with ESPN to return to commentating on a limited basis, working mainly major tournaments on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/9277939/dottie-pepper-join-espn-golf-announcing-team |title=Dottie Pepper returns to TV on ESPN |work=ESPN |date=May 15, 2013 |access-date=May 16, 2013}} In October 2015, Pepper was signed to a contract with CBS, replacing David Feherty who had left the network to work for NBC and to continue his Feherty series on the Golf Channel. She took up Feherty's role as on-course reporter as well as doing occasional tower announcing.{{cite news |url=http://www.cbssports.com/golf/eye-on-golf/25339358/dottie-pepper-hired-to-cover-golf-for-cbs-in-2016 |title=Dottie Pepper hired to cover golf for CBS in 2016 |work=CBS Sports |first= Kyle |last=Porter |date=October 14, 2015 |access-date=October 14, 2015}}

Pepper served as a member of the PGA of America Board of Directors from 2012 to 2015, and the NENY PGA Board of Directors from 2009 to 2015. She was the recipient of the 2016 William D. Richardson Award, presented by the Golf Writers Association of America for her consistently outstanding contributions to golf. She is also a 2018 inductee to the New York State Golf Association Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=https://dottiepepper.net/about |title=About Dottie Pepper |date=2018 |website=www.dottiepepper.net |access-date=}} The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America awarded Pepper with its highest honor, the Old Tom Morris Award, in 2024, for her continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf, and helping mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.{{cite web|url=https://www.gcsaa.org/media/news/2023/11/14/dottie-pepper-to-receive-gcsaa-s-old-tom-morris-award |title=Dottie Pepper to receive GCSAA's Old Tom Morris Award |date=November 14, 2023|website=www.gcsaa.org|access-date=}}

Pepper resides in Saratoga Springs, New York with her third husband, golf writer and historian David Normoyle. They were married in May 2010.{{cite news |newspaper=The Albany Times Union |url=http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Pepper-back-home-in-Saratoga-562822.php |title=Pepper back home in Saratoga |first=Pete |last=Dougherty |date=June 30, 2010 |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–5)

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

• 1985 Albany-Colonie Chamber Open (as an amateur)

• 1989 Karuizawa 72 Tokyu Ladies Open

• 1992 JCPenney Classic (with Dan Forsman)
• 1995 JCPenney/LPGA Skins Game
• 1996 Diners Club Matches (with Juli Inkster)
• 1997 Diners Club Matches (with Juli Inkster)
• 1999 Diners Club Matches (with Juli Inkster)
• 2000 Hyundai Team Matches (with Juli Inkster)

¹ Defeated Inkster with par on first extra hole.

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

{{legend|lime|Win}}

{{legend|yellow|Top 10}}

{{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}}

CUT = missed the half-way cut

WD = withdrew

"T" = tied

• Starts – 65
• Wins – 2
• 2nd-place finishes – 3
• 3rd-place finishes – 3
• Top 3 finishes – 8
• Top 5 finishes – 12
• Top 10 finishes – 17
• Top 25 finishes – 42
• Missed cuts – 6
• Most consecutive cuts made – 38
• Longest streak of top-10s – 5

Amateur

• Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1986

Professional

• Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 1990 (winners), 1992, 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998 (winners), 2000

• List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://dottiepepper.net/}}
• {{LPGA Tour player|dottie-pepper/82638}}
• {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124222228/http://golf.about.com/od/golferswomen/p/dottiepepper.htm |title=Dottie Pepper at golf.about.com |date=November 24, 2007 }}

{{Dinah Shore/Nabisco Champions}}

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Category:American female golfers

Category:Furman Paladins women's golfers

Category:LPGA Tour golfers

Category:Winners of LPGA major golf championships

Category:Solheim Cup competitors for the United States

Category:American golf commentators

Category:Golfers from New York (state)

Category:Golfers from Orlando, Florida

Category:American women sports commentators

Category:Sportspeople from Saratoga Springs, New York

Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American sportswomen