Charlotta Petra Sörenstam (born 16 April 1973) is a retired

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. As an amateur competing for the Texas Longhorns, she won the NCAA Division I Championship individual title. As a professional, she won one tournament on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

and represented Europe in the

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force beh ...

. Her elder sister by three years,

Annika Annika is a feminine given name. It is the Swedish pet form of Anna, similar to Anneke in the Netherlands. It is also common in Germany, Finland and Estonia, gaining popularity after 1969 from the character of that name in the ''Pippi Longstockin ...

, is a

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

golfer.

Early years

Sörenstam was born in Bro near

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

.Annika Sörenstam with the editors of Golf Magazine: ''Golf Annika's Way'', Gotham Books, 2004, Her father Tom was an IBM executive and her mother Gunilla worked in a bank. The Sörenstam family began playing golf at Viksjö Golf Club in

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, north of Stockholm and later switched to nearby Bro-Bålsta Golf Club, opened in 1980, initially with a 9-hole course. At the age of 9, she shared her first set of golf clubs with her sister. Annika got the odd numbered clubs and Charlotta the even. At the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

tournament

Scandinavian Enterprise Open The Scandinavian Enterprise Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour that was played in Sweden until 1990, when it had a prize fund of £400,000, which was mid-range for the tour at that time. In 1991, the tournament was merged with fell ...

in Stockholm in July 1986, the Sörenstam sisters tried to be volunteer caddies and was asked to stand in a line with all other candidates. When all male volunteer caddies finally had been chosen by the tournament professionals, three teen-age girls were left without a bag yet. It was Charlotta, Annika and Fanny Sunesson.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Sörenstam won the 1992 Ängsö Ladies Open on the professional

Swedish Golf Tour The Swedish Golf Tour (currently known as the MoreGolf Mastercard Tour for sponsorship reasons), is a developmental professional golf formerly operated by Svenska Golftourerna AB, owned equally by the Swedish Golf Federation and the PGA of Swede ...

, at the time named the Lancome Tour. She represented Sweden at the 1993

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands. She finished 5th at the 1993 individual

European Ladies Amateur Championship The European Ladies Amateur Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament. It is organized by the European Golf Association and is one of the "elite" tournaments recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men ...

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, Italy. In 1993, Sörenstam competed for the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in the United States. She won the 1993 individual NCAA Division I Championship title, two years after her elder sister won the same tournament. She also earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors. While at Texas, Sörenstam was named the winner of the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

for golf. In 1994, Sörenstam was part of the winning Swedish team at the

European Lady Junior's Team Championship The European Lady Junior's Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for women under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1968. It was played every year until 1984, then every second ye ...

at Gutenhof Golf Club,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. She also finished second, losing in the final to

Maria Hjorth Maria Anna Hjorth (born 15 October 1973) is a Swedish professional golfer. Early years Hjorth was born in Falun. As the youngest of three daughters to Kjell and Monica Hjorth, she first gripped a golf club at three years of age. Six years old, ...

, at the Swedish Match-play Championship at Uppsala Golf Club on the Swedish Golf Tour.

Professional career

Sörenstam turned professional at the end of the 1994 season and played on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

in 1995 and 1996. At the end of 1996, she finished second at the

Final Qualifying Tournament to earn exempt status for 1997. She moved to the United States to play on the LPGA Tour, while continuing to play occasionally in Europe. She has one LPGA Tour win, the 2000 Standard Register PING, and two runner-up finishes, the 1998 Friendly's Classic and 1999 The Philips Invitational. Annika and Charlotta Sörenstam became the first two sisters to both win $1 million on the LPGA Tour. Her best finish in Europe is second, which she achieved at the 2005

Samsung Ladies Masters The Samsung Ladies Masters was a women's professional golf tournament co-sanctioned by the LPGA of Korea Tour and the Ladies European Tour that took place in Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign ...

and consecutively at the McDonald's WPGA Championship of Europe at Gleneagles in 1996 and 1997. Sörenstam received the 2004 Mary Bea Porter Award from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association for saving

Donna Caponi Donna Caponi-Byrnes (born January 29, 1945) is an American LPGA Tour professional golfer. She became a member of the tour in 1965 and won four major championships and 24 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. ...

from choking during the

2003 LPGA Championship The 2003 LPGA Championship was the 49th LPGA Championship, played June 5–8 at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware. Annika Sörenstam won in a playoff over Grace Park with a par on the first sudden death hole. It was the first of thre ...

. Sörenstam represented Europe in the

in 1998 and served as non-playing European captain for the European girls' team in the

Junior Solheim Cup The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and featu ...

in 2005.

Teaching

Since 2007, Sörenstam was Director of Golf Operations and Head Teaching Professional at The Annika Academy, a luxury golf school located south of

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, run by Sörenstam's sister, Annika. She also instructs at IMG academy. Her students included several Symetra Tour, collegiate and LPGA players. The Annika Academy closed on 31 May 2016. Sörenstam is also a recognized instructor for persons with lower back injuries. She now has the Sorenstam Academy at Charlotte Harbor National Golf Club in North Port, Florida.

Amateur wins

*1993 NCAA Division I Championship Individual

Professional wins (3)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

LPGA of Korea Tour wins (1)

*2001 Hyundai Securities Ladies Open

Swedish Golf Tour wins (1)

*1992 Ängsö Ladies Open (as an amateur)

LPGA Tour career summary

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Girls' Team Championship The European Girls' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women up to 18 organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1991. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1991 to 1999 and has be ...

(representing Sweden): 1991 *

(representing Sweden): 1992, 1994 (winners) *

(representing Sweden):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Professional *

(representing Europe):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Source:

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

*
Texas Longhorns Alumnae corner: Q&A with Charlotta SorenstamProfile at Annika Academy official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorenstam, Charlotta Swedish female golfers Texas Longhorns women's golfers Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Golfers from Stockholm 1973 births Living people