Big Green Egg Swedish Match Play Championship (Swedish Champ!)

Hey friends! I had another great week in Sweden on the LETAS playing in the Big Green Egg Swedish Match Play Championship. It is a cool tournament where we get to play in a fun format, 18+18 stroke play and then 5 nine holes matches to crown the champion. I got off a strong start and was second after the first round shooting -3 (69). Only top 32 made the cut in this event to fill the match play bracket and my main goal was to qualify for the match play. Having that start allowed me to try a few new things on the course in tournament play during the second round since the score was not the most important part anymore.

I qualified with ease and got to play against my dear friend My Leander, who plays on the LET, during the first round of match play. I knew it was going to be a fierce match and so it was… We both started off pretty well making putts to share a lot of holes. I had 2 very unfortunate breaks and became 2 down after 7th, and had to win the last 2 holes to have a chance to move on in the bracket. I won the 8th hole after My made a mistake off the tee and I won with a par. On the 9th hole I put the approach shot to 3 ft and was able to convert the putt and the sudden death play off was under way… It was absolutely crazy, we tied hole after hole, making birdies and great par saves for 7 more holes (!!!) before I stood as a winner on the 16th hole. I was relieved, exhausted, and so stoked to move on to the next round. Funny thing though- The tournament director wasn’t happy with us as we messed up his playing schedule…

In the second round I got to play Tina Mazarino from Norway who is ranked #15 on the LETAS ranking. I won the first and fourth hole and played pretty solid golf even though I was pretty tired mentally after the long play off with My that lasted 2 hours. I sealed the deal on the 8th hole and was 3&1 to advance to the top 8. Then I got to play Chiara Noja, the #1 player on the LETAS ranking. I started off with 2 birdies in a row to be 1 up before losing the 3rd hole after she made a solid birdie. We went back to back par’s before she made another birdie on the 6th hole to be 1 up. On the 7th hole, my ball clipped a small part of a tree on the approach shot and shifted direction completely and she could easily win the short par 5 hole with a birdie after I made par. On the 8th hole she snapped hooked her drive straight down in a water hazard, claiming it crossed the line 50 yards further up than it did… I got super frustrated but was able to win the hole and take the match to the last hole again… This time I only made par and we shared the hole and I lost with 1 hole. Nevertheless, a great tournament again and the game is surely trending in the right direction.

The coolest part though is that I became the best Swede in the tournament and this was the not only a LETAS tournament, but also the Swedish Match Play Championship which meant I became the Swedish Champion in Match Play!