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"The
more I
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the
luckier
I
get"
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01.06 Gode finner:
Den finske fremgangen – hva
kan vi lære av den?
Finske golfspillere var
tidligere i C-klassen i
europeisk golf. Nå har de
flere gode spillere på
tour’ene. Hva ligger bak?
Finnene har fått frem mange
gode spillere i det siste.
På damefronten har de nå 5
spillere på Europa Tour'en.
Det er ikke tilfeldig. Mye
av æren tillegges svenskene
og dere måte å bygge opp
spillere på. Sverige og
Finland har vist at de er
gode til å bygge gode lag i
ishockey. Spørsmålet er om
vi i Norge har samme evne
til å lære av svenskene.
Eller er vi oss selv (gode)
nok?
Vi har de siste årene hatt
en del drahjelp fra Sverige.
Mange av de tøffe kravene
har møtt motstand blant
foreldre og andre her i
landet. De dyktigste av
svenskene som har vært har,
har ikke alltid hatt det
like lett i sitt arbeid med
å få norsk golf opp på et
høyere nivå.
Dette sitatet fra artikkelen
under viser hvordan også
norske proffer stort sett
har hatt det til nå.
If you turned
professional before there
was no-one to support you
and it could be very lonely.
Her er en artikkel
skrevet av Bethan Cutler om
den finske fremgangen på
kvinnesiden.
Fresh Finnish Faces set
to make their mark on the
LET
With a historical five
Finnish players on Tour,
Bethan Cutler takes a look
at the strength of women’s
golf in Finland. Introducing
the new class of 2004….
Finnish golf reached a new
pinnacle in its history this
season when, for the first
time, five Finnish players
arrived to compete on the
Robe Di Kappa Ladies
European Tour.
Experienced 27-year-old
Rikke Hakkarainen from Espoo
and seasoned professional
Pia Koivuranta, 32, from
Vaasa, became the elder
stateswomen of the bunch
when they were joined by a
refreshing trio of new young
faces; 24-year-old Jenni
Kuosa from Vantaa,
19-year-old Minea Blomqvist
and 22-year-old Ursula Tuuti
from Espoo.
Blomqvist made herself known
on the LET with a fantastic
start to her professional
career when she lead the
Tenerife Ladies Open after a
blistering second round 66
on the first day.
Baby-faced blonde Tuutti,
close friend of Blomqvist
and near twin in appearance
showed her capabilities when
she tied for twelfth
position at the LET
Qualifying School, and on
the final day at the Ladies
Open of Portugal it was a
testament to the strength of
women’s golf from Finland
when for the first time
three Finns competed within
two groups.
The success of Blomqvist,
who earlier this year topped
the Nedbank Women’s South
African Tour’s Order of
Merit and won two events
including The Pam Golding
International and the
Telekom Women’s Classic
highlighted the Finnish
phenomenon, and the
achievement of the Finnish
Federation’s amateur
training programmes in
producing such a strong
array of talent.
As well as being coached
mentally by Pia Nillson, a
former Solheim Cup Captain
who has coached many famous
Swedish names including
Annika Sorenstam and
Liselotte Neumann, Blomqvist,
a two time Junior Solheim
Cup team player, has had
many Swedish influences on
her golf career.
Finnish National Team Coach
Ville Kalliala explained
that the close physical
proximity of Finland and
Sweden has lead to many
Swedish practises being
incorporated into the
Finnish amateur training
programme over the years.
“I was the fourth
professional golfer in
Finland and I was a member
of the Swedish PGA in 1983
so I saw how the Swedish
system worked by developing
the national teams. We
copied the system”, said
Kalliala, who has coached
Blomqvist, Koivuranta and
the other members of the
Finnish National teams for
eleven years.
“We have also had a lot of
help from the Swedish Golf
Union and our players can
telephone the Swedish Golf
Union if they need help.
“A lot of our Finnish
professional and amateur
players play together with
the Swedes on the Telia Tour,
which gives them a good
start to Tour life, and they
mix together.
“We believe in educating our
players and they have mental
and physical swing coaches.
“We haven’t done anything
amazingly differently over
the years, but we have a lot
of good ladies at the moment
and many of them play
together, which is good
because they support each
other. And if one is playing
well it encourages the
others to do better.”
Koivuranta agreed that
support was a major
advantage for new
professionals: “If you
turned professional before
there was no-one to support
you and it could be very
lonely. But now there’s more
co-operation between the
Finnish PGA and the Golf
Union.
“The new Head of the Golf
Union used to be the head of
the PGA and was a
professional golfer in the
United States, and the new
head of the PGA is an
amateur player so they
understand each other.
“I think this is the first
year that there has been
support for turning
professional from the Golf
Union,” she explained.
Hakkarainen, who was the
first Finnish player to play
internationally at the age
of fifteen and whose best
finish on the LET was tied
second at the Biarritz
Ladies Classic in 2002,
considered the changes in
the system: “They’ve
developed a programme where
the players have a schedule
that they follow and they
can play international golf.
That’s the biggest issue in
my opinion.
“They’ve been trying to
create a lot of bigger
competitions for juniors.
“They have a really strong
national side and they go to
each tournament as a team.
Team support is something
they’ve been trying to copy
from the Swedes. They also
try to develop each
individual’s strengths as a
player.
“From sixteen years of age
the Finnish national team
travels to practise at the
national camps in Spain.
“They have their own teacher
when they go away and they
learn Swedish and English so
that’s really good,” said
Hakkarainen.
Both Blomqvist and Tuutti
attended Costa Ballena at
the La Manga Resort in Spain
for a month last year with
the national team, as in
Finland most golf courses
only open for five months of
the year from May to
September and for the winter
period courses can be
covered in a metre of snow.
“I went to Spain and the
States to practise this
winter. You have to go
because it’s too cold to
play in Finland,” explained
Tuutti, who started playing
golf at the age of ten with
her brother and his friends
at their home club Kymen
Golf.
Blomqvist, who lived 200
metres from Espon golf
course and started playing
at nine-years-old with her
friends, met her new swing
coach when she went on a
three day training camp in
Arizona last winter where
she now goes regularly.
“I go to Phoenix, Arizona,
to see Pia Nillson who was
the Swedish national amateur
team coach and Annika’s
swing coach and next week
I’m going to see her in
Sweden.
“I have learned a lot from
Pia. My opinion is that it’s
really good if there are
coaches who have there own
experience because at the
moment all our coaches in
Finland are club
professionals and I think
that’s a little bit bad,”
said the Finn, whose home
course is at Sarfik Golf
Club.
Tuutti added, “We don’t have
any female pros in Finland
who were playing in the
1970s and 80s. Rikke was
pretty much the first one so
in that way there is not the
experience there.”
Kuosa, who started playing
golf at 13-years-old when
her family went on a holiday
to Lanzarote, believes the
amateur programmes have
improved: “The biggest thing
is that they’re taking golf
into schools and they are
encouraging the juniors to
get into golf from about age
12. I think it’s a great way
to produce new talent.
“I hope we get more juniors
because we haven’t had any
Finnish idols in golf and
that’s been a problem to get
new girls playing.”
Hakkarainen said she thought
that the increase in the
number of players could only
be positive: “I think it’s
great that we have more
Finnish girls playing,
especially for the media
because if someone plays
really well then it keeps
the Finns in the headlines.
“I see a really good future
for us and hopefully we can
win some big titles in front
of the Swedes.”
Koivuranta agreed: “Because
of ‘Minni’ playing well as
an amateur before this the
women are getting somewhere
in Finland. She’s young,
good looking, and she plays
superb golf.”
Until now the Swedes have
dominated the golf scene but
the rise of the new Finns
could redress the balance.
“We play each other in the
national team competitions
and when we do it’s a big
fight,” said Blomqvist.
The 19-year-old has high
expectations for her golf
and aims to win a tournament
to keep her card for the
next two years.
Like Tuutti however her
ultimate goal is to be the
first Finn to play in The
Solheim Cup and her
experience of playing in the
Junior Solheim Cup for the
past two years has given her
a taste of the action.
“I love to play in those
team tournaments, especially
the European Team
championships.
“There is such a great team
spirit and they are
definitely the most fun,”
Blomqvist said.
At Bogskagen GC last year
she found yet another
Swedish mentor in her team
captain, Helen Alfreddson:
“Alfie was a great captain
because she was so rowdy and
loud and always having fun.”
Alfreddson’s name adds to
the impressive list of
Swedish influences on her
career but Blomqvist
acknowledged: “You have to
believe in yourself to
succeed in golf.”
If success is a measure of
self belief then it looks as
though a bright future for
Finnish golf is on the
horizon.
Move over Sweden, move
forward Finland. Blomqvist,
Tuutti and Kuosa are the new
names to watch in
Scandinavian women’s golf.
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