Golf in Sweden dates to 1888 when the first course was opened at Ryfors Bruk in Mullsjö.[1] The first 18 hole course was opened in Gothenburg in 1894, and Stockholm Golf Club was established along with the Swedish Golf Federation (SGF) in 1904.[1] Today it is a popular sport with over half a million active players and close to 500 courses.[2]
History
In 1946, Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland became Chairman of the SGF. Sven Tumba was instrumental in promoting the game as an healthy activity for the masses, and in 1968 he organized exhibition matches at Lidingö Golf Club and Falsterbo Golf Club featuring Arnold Palmer, popularizing the sport further. By 1970 there were 110 courses.[1]
In 1997, Gabriel Hjertstedt became the first to win on the PGA Tour and two years later the first two-time winner. Jesper Parnevik became the first three-time winner, with a total of five PGA Tour-titles 1997–2001. Between 1995 and 2005 Annika Sörenstam was a dominant on the LPGA Tour, with a career record of 72 LPGA Tour titles, including 10 major victories. By the time Anna Nordqvist won her third major in 2021, she and her compatriots had the third most LPGA major championship titles of any nation, behind only the United States and South Korea. The first Swedish men's major victory came at the 2016 Open Championship through Henrik Stenson, after Parnevik, Niclas Fasth and Jonas Blixt had all recorded runner-up finishes.[4]
Golf Digest has continually ranked Swedish courses since 1993. Svensk Golf, a monthly publication attached to the Swedish Golf Federation, in 2020 published an updated ranking using the same methodology.[6]
The Swedish Golf Team is the national squad. Amateur players from the age of 13 are trained and selected by the SGF to represent the country in international tournaments. The first win came at the 1959 European Amateur Team Championship. Notably, the women's team won the European Ladies' Team Championship three consecutive years 2018, 2019 and 2020.[11]
^Players with or eligible for Swedish nationality that have chosen to represent other countries (e.g. Jenny Lidback, Carl Suneson, Camilla Hedberg) are not included. Players that have switched their nationality (e.g. Caroline Westrup, Paul Nilbrink) are included if they represented Sweden at the time of their achievement. Several players, such as Annika Sörenstam, have assumed U.S. citizenship, but continued to use Sweden as sporting nationality.
^M.E. is LET major only. Women's British Open turned LPGA major in 2001, The Evian in 2013.
^Career best position in the Women's World Golf Rankings. Officially introduced in February 2006, hence not available for players active in prior years. Full list of all ranked players available at the official WWGR site and its archive.
