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

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 LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

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 forc ...

. Her elder sister by three years,

Annika Annika is a feminine given name with multiple origins in different cultures. It is a Swedish diminutive for Anna, derived in the 15th century from Anneke, a Dutch and Northern Germanic diminutive of Anna. Swedish-born retired professional golf ...

, 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

.Annika Sörenstam with the editors of Golf Magazine: ''Golf Annika's Way'', Gotham Books, 2004, Her father Tom was an

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

executive and her mother Gunilla worked in a bank. The Sörenstam family began playing golf at Viksjö Golf Club in

Jakobsberg Jakobsberg is a suburban area (pop. ca 32 643 in the year 2022) within Stockholm urban area, and the seat of Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County in Sweden. Jakobsberg, Järfälla's commercial and administrative centre, grew up around ...

, 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 titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

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 were 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 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Ängsö Ladies Open on the professional

Swedish Golf Tour The Swedish Golf Tour, currently titled as the Cutter & Buck Tour for sponsorship reasons, is a developmental professional golf which was formerly operated by Svenska Golftourerna AB, as well as being owned equally by the Swedish Golf Federatio ...

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

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

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 pl ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, 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 ...

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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. The city is main ...

, 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 university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

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 on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

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 t ...

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 y ...

at Gutenhof Golf Club,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She also finished second, losing in the final to

Maria Hjorth Maria Anna McBride (née Hjorth born 15 October 1973) is a Swedish professional golfer. She has won five times on the LPGA Tour and twice finished second in major championships. Early years Hjorth was born in Falun. As the youngest of three d ...

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

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. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

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 The Friendly's Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1995 to 1998.LPGA Tournament Chrono ...

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 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. Sörenstam represented Europe in the

in 1998 and served as non-playing European captain for the European girls' team in the Junior Solheim Cup in 2005.

Teaching

From 2007 to 2016, 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 and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, run by Sörenstam's sister, Annika. The Annika Academy closed on 31 May 2016. Sörenstam was also a recognized instructor for persons with lower back injuries. From 2018 to 2020 she was the Director of instruction at Charlotte Harbor National Golf Club in North Port, Florida. Since 2021 she worked for the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida as a Performance Golf Coach.

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 The Ängsö Ladies Open was a women's professional golf tournament on the Swedish Golf Tour (women), Swedish Golf Tour played annually from 1988 until 1994. It was always held at the Ängsö Golf Club in Västerås, Sweden. Winners References< ...

(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 bee ...

(representing Sweden): 1991 *

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

(representing Sweden):

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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 Ladies European Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for Europe Texas Longhorns women's golfers Swedish expatriate golfers in the United States Golfers from Stockholm 1973 births Living people