Top Swedish golfer opening course in Estonia after decade-long wait

Top Swedish-American golfer Annika Sörenstam recently visited the Jõelähtme Golf Center near Tallinn. She is set to build her own course there, due to open in 2027.
Sörenstam, who has taken 97 professional wins in her career before it ended in 2008 and is widely thought to have been one of the best women golfers in sporting history, has been building courses worldwide since then. She says her goal is to popularize golf in smaller countries as well.
"I know that Estonia is a smaller country with not too many golf courses, but I do know that people love golf here, so I think if we have the courses, people will come, and so to be able to create an amazing experience at the Estonian golf club, people will be happy to come here and play," Sörenstam told ERR's Sport portal.
She last visited Estonia ten years ago. At that time, an agreement was made to build a course bearing her name. Financial difficulties and the pandemic years intervened, and only now is the design work in full swing.
"10 years is a long time, but they've been working in the background trying to get it to come back all together, so I'm very excited about that. It's nice to be back; this reminds me quite a bit of Sweden, but I'm happy to be able to create something very special."
During her visit, she held meetings and, together with Garry Johnston, president of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, discussed the course plans. Sörenstam says she wants the course to offer both challenge and joy, no matter the player's skill level.
"You have to look at the membership; there's a lot of women that play here, there are some juniors that play, some seniors – so we want to make sure that we build a course that everybody will enjoy of course; still challenging, but very fair – We want it to be a variety, so I think that the routing we have is really providing that for everyone, so there's some easy holes, some challenging holes, and just I'm, happy for everybody."
The course is expected to be completed in 2027.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte










