09.06.21:
For the first time ever, the Ladies European Tour and the European Tour will compete, not only on the same course, but both men and women are competing for the same prize fund and the same trophy. The Scandinavian Mixed is a tournament hosted by the legendary golf stars Annika Sorenstam and Henrik Stenson.
Swedish innovation
The tournament is played from the 10th to the 13th of June at Vallda Golf & Country Club located only 30 minutes outside Gothenburg. It is a links course, which means that it is played with sloped and firm greens, and firm fairways that are exposed to a lot of wind. The course is in good conditions and will be enjoyable to play. There will be a cut after two rounds where the top 65 professionals, men and women, will make it to the last two rounds competing for the prize fund of € 1,000,000.
The field consists of 156 players equally split with 78 women and 78 men. The first two groupings are drawn with one or two women and one or two men in the same flight, mixing up the men and women. The last two days the groupings will be determined by the leaderboard. The tees are set at different lengths, but that is all that separates the sexes this week.
Thank you Titleist
With the ET playing, three of the tour-buses are on site; Taylormade, Callaway and my brand, Titleist. Thanks to excellent help from the Titleist staff, I was able to get a different head for my driver with a lower loft that has been difficult to get in Europe. Because I normally hit the ball high up in the air, the lower loft allows for a lower ball flight which also makes the ball spinn less, that in return gives me more control over the ball in the air and adds a few meters of roll when the ball finds the ground.
In addition to changing the driver-head Titleist also put some heavier weights into my putter for me. I love how it feels, and the way it makes the ball roll more consistently. I am pumped about this week, and I am keeping my eyes and ears open trying to learn as much as possible with all the great players, coaches and staff around!
Among legends
On our first practice round, Knud and I had the great pleasure of walking the course with our friend, the extraordinary Fanny Sunesson. She has caddied for players like Henrik Stenson and Nick Faldo for many years at a time, and she was kind enough to share some of her vast experience with us. We talked and enjoyed ourselves out in the sun that day, and I learned so much! We talked about golf in general, about me as a player and the relationship Knud and I have on the course.
It was of course hard to beat our first practice round with Fanny, but our second practice round was a close second. We were fortunate enough to play nine holes with the famous Swedish golfer, Peter Hanson. His merit speaks for itself, and on top of that he is a really nice guy. Peter has previously been on a camp with team Norway in Spain, so we already knew each other from before. His attitude towards the game of golf, and his skills around the greens are inspiring! Only by observing how Peter and his caddie Jesse worked together, Knud and I picked up a few things that might seem minor to some, but I believe that in the end, it might just be «the small things» that separate average players from the great winners.
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