Härdin's first name is officially spelled Cristian,[1] but his name is in most tournament result reports spelled in the more common way Christian Härdin.
12 years old in 1976, joining his father, his mother Birgitta and his two brothers Per and Anders, Härdin learned golf at Gävle Golf Club, one of the leading elite clubs in Sweden at the time. Among his club mates were future European Tour winners Adam Mednick and Peter Hedblom.[4]
Härdin's father was a keen golfer and the two of them won the 1992 Swedish Father & Son Championship, played as foursome, scoring 152 over 36 holes at Ullna Golf Club in Stockholm.[5]
In August 1985, Härdin won the inaugural Nordic Championship, a tournament replacing the discontinued Scandinavian Match-play Championship, at Aura Golf in Turku, Finland, with a 2-under-par-score of 286, five strokes ahead of nearest competitor.[5][7]
Härdin's greatest amateur achievement came in 1988, when he won The Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, Wales, beating Ben Fouchee, South Africa in the final, 1 up.[5] Härdin's club mate Adam Mednick caddied for him after Mednick had lost and been kicked out from the tournament in an early round.
The week after his British Amateur triumph, Härdin proved to be one of the best amateurs in Europe at the time, finishing tied runner-up at the 1988 individual European Amateur Championship at Hamburger Golf Club Falkenstein, Germany, after an invited Australian player. Härdin earned the silver medal on a tie breaking better last 18 holes.[8][9]
He also, as the first Scandinavian player ever, received an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament in April 1989. It was also the first time a male Swedish player participated in a professional major tournament in the United States. However, staying in the northern part of Sweden during the winter, having not played a tournament round since the Eisenhower Trophy in September 1988, Härdin was not able to be competitive at his first visit to Augusta National.[11] He has later admitted that his performance did have a bad effect on his confidence and his continuing playing career.[12]
His only professional win came in 2008, during his time as an instructing professional, at the Swedish mini tour event Gefle Open, a former Challenge Tour tournament, in his old home town Gävle.[17]
Awards, honors
In 1989, Härdin received Elite Sign No. 80 by the Swedish Golf Federation, on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances.[5]
At the 100 years anniversary of the Swedish Golf Federation in 2004, Härdin was, by the Svensk Golf magazine, ranked 44th among the 100 most important persons in the history of Swedish golf.[12]
^ abJansson, Anders (October 1985). ""Kricken" förste NM-vinnaren" ["Kricken" the first Nordic Champion]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10. pp. 42–43, 65. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
^Nordlund, Anders (July 1988). "Här är putten som lurade Kricken på andra raka titeln" [Here is the putt that stopped Kricken from the second straight title]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 7. pp. 54–55, 90. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
^ abSellberg, Lena (May 1989). ""Kricken" först - och sist" ["Kricken first - and last]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 5. pp. 44–46, 90. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
^ ab"Sveriges 100 viktigaste golfprofiler" [Sweden's 100 most important golf personalities]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 2. February 2004. pp. 24–33. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
^Nordlund, Anders (August 1987). "EM herrar, Luften gick ur svenskarna" [Men's European Championship, The Swedes lost their breath]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 8. pp. 44–46, 90. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
