Catrin Nilsmark

Catrin Maria Nilsmark (born 30 August 1967) is a Swedish professional golfer who played on both the United States-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She appeared for Europe at the Solheim Cup five times and captained the winning team in 2003.

Catrin Nilsmark
Nilsmark (2013)
Personal information
Full nameMaria Catrin Sandberg Nilsmark
Born (1967-08-30) 30 August 1967
Gothenburg, Sweden
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Sporting nationality Sweden
ResidenceDanderyd, Stockholm, Sweden
SpousePer-Uno Sandberg
ChildrenTuva Augusta, Sigge
Career
CollegeUniversity of South Florida
Turned professional1987
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (1995–2005)
Ladies European Tour
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour1
Ladies European Tour2
Other5
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT15: 2003
Women's PGA C'shipT9: 1998
U.S. Women's Open7th: 1996
du Maurier ClassicT34: 1999
Women's British OpenT4: 2002

Early life

Nilsmark was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. She grew up in Lerum east of Gothenburg and began her golf career at Öijared Golf Club, Sweden's first golf club with two 18-hole courses.

Amateur career

In 1984 she became the Swedish Youth under-19 Champion. She won the Orange Bowl International Junior Championship in Coral Gables, Florida in December 1984.[1] She played one year of collegiate golf at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.[2]

Professional career

Nilsmark turned professional in 1987 but her early career was hampered by a whiplash injury sustained in a car accident.[3] She had her maiden LET victory at the 1994 Ford Golf Classic at Woburn Golf and Country Club, England[4] and joined the U.S.-based LPGA Tour in 1995 having tied for 15th at the 1994 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn exempt status.[2]

She had two victories in 1999. On the Ladies European Tour, she won the Evian Masters in Évian-les-Bains, France, beating Laura Davies, who was at the top of her career, with two strokes. That victory came the year before the tournament became an LPGA co-sanctioned event. It was later designated by the LPGA Tour as a major championship in women's golf. Nilsmark also won the 1999 Valley of the Stars Championship at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California on the LPGA Tour, beating Annika Sörenstam in a playoff. Nilsmark finished the year a career best second on the Ladies European Tour and 40th on the LPGA Tour.

Nilsmark played in the Solheim Cup in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000, sinking the winning putt in 1992 in Europe's first victory over the United States. She was the victorious European Solheim Cup captain in 2003[5] at Barsebäck Golf &Country Club in her native Sweden, despite suffering from a serious back injury and leading the European team walking with crutches on the course,[6] and the losing captain in the 2005 match.[7] She was captain of The 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team.[8]

Her career was interrupted by injuries and pregnancy in 2004, but in 2008, she came back to competitive golf, playing regularly on the Swedish Golf Tour, at the time named SAS Masters Tour, representing Vidbynäs Golf Club and winning twice. She later came to represent Stockholm Golf Club.

After retiring from tournament golf in 2008, she came back at 52 years of age, playing two tournaments on the Swedish Golf Tour in 2019.

Personal life

Nilsmark in 1995 married Henrik Wickberg[9] and after their divorce, she 1998-2007 was married to Fredrik Hellqvist, sport journalist and former head of Swedish European Tour tournament Scandinavian Masters 2005–2013. During her LPGA Tour career, Nilsmark and Hellqvist, who changed his last name to Nilsmark, lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, in a house formerly owned by Tony Jacklin and situated close to were Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik lived.[10]

She later married Per-Uno Sandberg and the couple resides in Danderyd, north of Stockholm, Sweden.

She has two children, daughter Tuva Augusta, born 1997 and son, Sigge, born 2004. In the seventh month of her pregnancy in 1997, she competed in the LET tournament Compaq Open in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing lone runner-up to Annika Sörenstam, ahead of third placed Nancy Lopez. The following week, she won on the Swedish Golf Tour.

She is an honorary member at Öijared Golf Club, Sweden and at Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, Edinburgh, Scotland[11] and an honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.[12]

She worked as a golf commentator in Sweden at the television channel Viasat Golf 2007–2017.

Amateur wins
  • 1984 Swedish Youth under-19 Championship, Orange Bowl International Junior Championship

Professional wins (8)

LPGA Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-upRef
1 14 Feb 1999 Valley of the Stars Championship –12 (68-65-71=204) Playoff Annika Sörenstam [13]

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1999 Valley of the Stars Championship Annika Sörenstam Won with par on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (2)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-upRef
1 24 Apr 1994 Ford Golf Classic −12 (73-68-73-70=284) 4 strokes Trish Johnson, Joanne Morley
2 12 Jun 1999 Evian Masters −9 (69-70-72-68=279) 2 strokes Laura Davies [lower-alpha 1]
  1. Note: Nilsmark won The Evian Championship (formerly named the Evian Masters) before it was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour in 2000 and recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2013.

Swedish Golf Tour wins (5)
Legend
National Championships (2)
Other Swedish Golf Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning
score		 Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
119 May 1991Höganäs Ladies Open212 (−4)5 strokes Maria Bertilsköld (a)
231 Aug 1997Lerum Ladies Open209 (−7)6 strokes Sara Melin, Susann Norberg
Pernilla Sterner, Malin Tveit
37 Sep 1997Öhrlings Swedish Matchplay3&2 Nina Karlsson
46 Jun 2008IT-Arkitekterna Ladies Open219 (+3)2 strokes Josefin Leijon, Zuzana Mašínová
530 Aug 2008PGA Ladies Open219 (+3)1 stroke Zuzana Mašínová

Results in LPGA majors
Tournament199519961997199819992000
Kraft Nabisco Championship CUT CUT T57
LPGA Championship CUT CUT T9 T54 T56
U.S. Women's Open CUT 7 T33 CUT T16
du Maurier Classic CUT T53 CUT T34
Tournament2001200220032004200520062007
Kraft Nabisco Championship T68 CUT T15 73
LPGA Championship CUT
U.S. Women's Open T34
Women's British Open ^ CUT T4 T41 T48

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
"T" tied.

Team appearances

Professional

References
  1. "Past Champions". Junior Orange Bowl. Archived from the original on 2 November 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  2. "Catrin Nilsmark Career Highlights". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  3. "Catrin Nilsmark Player Profile". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  4. "Tävling, WPGET" [Competition, WPGET]. Svensk Golf. May 1994. p. 107.
  5. Park, Martin (14 August 2002). "Nilsmark announced as 2003 European captain". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  6. Park, Martin (10 September 2003). "Agony for Captain Catrin". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  7. Park, Martin (16 February 2004). "Catrin Nilsmark retains captaincy for 2005 Solheim". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  8. "Nilsmark named Captain of The 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team". Ladies European Tour. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  9. Luther, Sylvia (March 1995). "Grattis till brudparet" [Congratulations to the married couple]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 3. p. 10.
  10. "Månadens intervju" [Interview of the month]. Svensk Golf. June 2000. pp. 60–68.
  11. "Catrin har landat" [Catrin has landet]. Svensk Golf. June 2008. pp. 184–186.
  12. Golf – Den stora sporten [Golf – The great sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. 2004. p. 283.
  13. Brännholm, Mattias (April 1999). "Nilsmarks första..., Tävling" [Nilsmark's first..., Competition]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 4. pp. 124–126, 144. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
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