Swede Life THE
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DESPITE BEING SMALL IN SIZE AND LONG ON WINTERS, SWEDEN HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT GOLF NATIONS IN THE WORLD IN LARGE PART TO POSITIONING ITS PLAYERS FOR SUCCESS WHILE UTILIZING VESSELS SUCH AS OSU.
“It was our goal in Sweden to give our players the absolute best possible conditions that existed regarding sport and studies. We knew that OSU was one of the very best and leading universities. THEY HAD THE BEST PLAYERS, THE BEST COACHES, PLAYED THE BEST COMPETITIONS, HAD THE BEST PRACTICE CONDITIONS AND THE COMPETITION WAS FIERCE.
That made the choice easy for our best players,” says PETER SVALLIN , who FORMERLY SERVED AS THE SWEDISH MEN’S NATIONAL COACH.
WITH APPROXIMATELY 4,885 MILES SEPARATING STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA, AND STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, IT MIGHT SEEM FARFETCHED TO THINK A PATH HAS BEEN WORN BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES. TO THE CONTRARY, THE NATION WITH LESS THAN 10 MILLION RESIDENTS HAS BECOME A FRUITFUL HOTBED OF TALENT FOR THE OKLAHOMA STATE GOLF PROGRAMS.
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Svallin was responsible for feeding the Cowboy roster with All-American talent such as LEIF WESTERBERG , ANDERS HULTMAN , ALEX NORÉN and a Swede who would eventually make his way to the women’s side in PÄR NILSSON , the Cowgirls’ current assistant coach. “I had very good contact with Coach (Mike) Holder. He was a very skilled coach and has done a lot for our Swedish players over the years. For my own part, Stillwater has always been a place I loved to come back to. I’ve made about 15 visits over the years and each time I have felt at home and so have our players,” Svallin says. Of the 39 All-American honors earned in the history of the Cowgirl program, 17 HAVE COME COURTESY OF SWEDISH PLAYERS.
The program’s lone NCAA medalist and the most decorated player in program history, CAROLINE HEDWALL , hails from Löddeköpinge, Sweden. In addition to Hedwall, Swedish Cowgirls PERNILLA LINDBERG and KARIN SJÖDIN were both first-team All-Americans before going on to LPGA success, while MARIA BODÉN was a three-time Big 12 Player of the Year.