Since the first Swedish golf club,
Gothenburg, was founded in 1902 and
quickly followed two years later by
Stockholms Golf Klub, the popularity of
the sport has grown dramatically.
During the 1990’s, the emergence of homegrown talent such as
Annika Sorenstam and Jesper Parnevik with his upturned baseball cap,
skin-tight Johan Lindeberg trousers and a penchant for eating volcanic
dust, really started to raise the profile of Swedish golf.
In recent years, players such as Johan Edfors, Niclas Fasth, Fredrik
Jacobson, Robert Karlsson, and sunglass-loving Henrik Stenson have
continued to raise Swedish golf awareness.
Although plenty of Swedish pros play every week on the PGA and
European tours, Sweden is often curiously overlooked as a golfing
destination. The season may be short (generally around April
to October) but few countries can boast the variety of golfing
experiences on offer here. During summer, night owls can tee off at
midnight in northern Sweden with most golf courses open round
the clock during June and July. Elsewhere in the country teeing off at
7pm and squeezing in 18 holes before dusk is no problem, weather
permitting.
A Game For All Ages.
Here, golf is a passion and it’s difficult to meet a Swede that doesn’t
play game. With a population of about nine million people, around
six percent play the game, the highest percentage in the world.
Even more remarkable is that about a third of this figure are female.
This is partly due to Svenska Golfförbundet (the Swedish Golf
Federation), which has established a number of innovative programs
to recruit and assist young players. One of them is ‘Girls & Golf’,
aimed at drumming up interest among 7- to 18-year-olds by creating
a social atmosphere in which to play and placing less emphasis on
competitiveness.
Text: Andrew Marshall
Photos: Paul Marshall (and as
indicated on photo captions sheet)
There are also programs for boys, but there is a difference, as the
Swedes realise that boys approach the sport differently and it’s
important to have special conditions for both genders. In Sweden, as
in other countries, golf has undergone a transformation from elitist
“country club” game to something for the whole family. Almost
without exception, any member of a recognised golf organisation can
play at any course in Sweden although there may be local handicap
restrictions. Visitors from abroad are warmly received.
Volume 3 • Issue 31
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