Homing in on the Treble

From a Rolex Series victory through to a Ryder Cup triumph, Alex Noren’s career has some serious highlights. The Swede is now into his 19th season as a professional which has already included another Masters appearance and possibly a Ryder Cup later this year. But this week, the 10-time DP World Tour winner returns to Sweden for the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed in search of a third victory on home soil.

Swedish people have the odds stacked against them if they are to become great at golf. Stockholm has an average daily temperature of less than two degrees Celcius in the winter with just a few hours of daylight. The city also receives 170 days of precipitation a year, often in the form of snow. Despite this brutal weather, people turn out in huge numbers to tee it up with six percent of the country’s population playing the game – the highest percentage in Europe.

One of those players back in the 1990s was a young Noren. The youngster first sampled the sport 30km south of the capital at Haninge Golf Club with his first hole-in-one coming aged 12. Fortunately for him, Sweden’s summers can actually be glorious. That’s why the Nordic nation continue to punch above their weight in producing elite players. When the sun’s out, the country is on par with anywhere in the world to play the game.

Challenge Tour Graduate

Fast forward to now and the 2006 Challenge Tour graduate is a typical success story originating from the Swedish golf scene. The 40-year-old has gone on to win 11 times internationally while also having played in the 2018 Ryder Cup. His career has been a huge success and he’s hoping to complete a treble of DP World Tour victories in his home country when he tees it up this week.

2015 Nordea Masters champion.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Norén. “I played last year, and I thought it was going to be tough to get a very competitive tournament with both men and women competing together because of the tee boxes, and the set up. Maybe I was too hesitant to the idea. Last year I thought it was amazing. Linn Grant run away with it and she played unbelieve, but I believe the whole thing is very, very good. I was wrong when I didn’t believe in it.”

Teeing it up alongside Norén at Ullna Golf & Country Club will be Grant herself who returns to defend her title after a truly remarkable nine-shot victory last year. The 23-year-old defied the odds at Halmstad Golf Club to finish on 24 under par and become the first ever female to win on the DP World Tour – something which Norén is hoping to see more of.

Equal Opportunities

“Being a Swede and being a Dad to a girl, I like for women to have the same opportunities,” added the two-time Nordea Masters Champion. “I grew up watching an LET event at my home course and we loved it at kids trying to get their balls after 18. We didn’t care if it was men and women, but when you get older, girls want to watch girl golfers and men want to watch men. I’m very proud to be Swedish, I’m very proud Sweden is doing this.”

Ullna Golf & Country Club will be a picture perfect test

This year’s course is a different test to the one last summer, with Ullna located 20km north of Stockholm and a premier golfing destination in Scandinavia.  Famous for its beautiful setting and proximity to open water with six of the 18 holes stretching along the waterfront, it’s set to be the perfect week under the Swedish sunshine.

“It’s a really cool place,” added Noren. “It’s right on the lake. Very interesting holes, it’s very short. A lot of short holes, and a lot of longer holes. It will be good for both men and women. When you play it every day it’s a very attacking golf course, but in a tournament, you have to think a little bit more. There’s water everywhere and it’s been redesigned by Jack Nicklaus. Everybody is going to love it.”