“We all wish the Ladies European Tour could be in a little better shape.”
A ten-time major winner and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Annika Sörenstam retired from competitive golf in 2008 after a stellar career as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Just over a decade later, the Swedish star returned to the Ladies European Tour as host of the La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational, described by the LET as “part of a bold new vision for women’s golf in Europe”.
Annika conducted a youth clinic, played the pro-am and provided excellent media exposure of the event.
During her stay in Sotogrande, the winner of 93 tournaments in her career, 17 of them on the LET, gave an interview to Andalucía Golf/España Golf.
-Your impressions of La Reserva de Sotogrande?
-Oh, I love it! It’s a beautiful place. They (the organizers) contacted me about six weeks ago. I’ve been to Sotogrande, I’ve been to Valderrama many times, but never to La Reserva and I said: send me information and how I can help you with the tournament, and here I am.
-When was the first time you came to the Costa del Sol?
-I was here in 1987-88, in Marbella, with the Swedish junior national team.
-What makes Spain such an attractive destination for traveling golfers, including Swedes?
-The weather, the golf courses, the people, the food, the beaches… I mean, it’s a vacation destination, especially for someone from Sweden, because we don’t have this kind of weather all year round. And here you have literally everything.
-The Ladies European Tour celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018… What do you think should be done to return to a more successful trajectory?
-I wish I had the answer! I think we all wish I could be in a little better shape. That’s one of the reasons I’m here. I want to help the LET in any way I can, whether it’s to raise awareness or to give it some public exposure and be a part of the Tour in one way or another. So I think in tournaments like these it’s really important to be on TV, to get exposure, to get companies to invest money and get a chance to see the girls and play with them. A lot of times they’re impressed and ask, “How can we participate?” So I think it’s good to see that Spain has three tournaments (of the 2019 LET). I hope that other countries in Europe can do their part, that other countries have a tournament, and I hope that we have a regular and consistent tour for these players so they can fulfill their dreams.
-Why do you think Asian women are dominating the LPGA Tour?
-I really don’t know, but if you look at some of the players, South Korean especially, they have a really incredible circuit in South Korea, a lot of players, so the grassroots, the golf clubs where they come from, are very solid and unique. The best ones go to America. When you see the outstanding players, it’s their work ethic; they work very, very hard, they’re very committed and they’re very focused. Their careers are not very long but when they play they are very good. I would say from a more specific point of view, their changes are excellent; they are just very good. It’s amazing to see that, so we have to learn from that: what can we do to be more competitive?
-Tell us about your Cutter & Buck women’s clothing line. What do you think are its main attractions?
-We started in 2004, when the first collection came out, so it will be 15 years next year. There are some things I like to defend. It has to be good quality, be sporty, be feminine and be innovative in terms of fabrics, and I think we’ve been very consistent with the way we’ve done that. Now we are starting to expand internationally and I am very pleased with that. I use it for a lot of things, as we’ve gone from it being just golf-specific clothing to making it more of a lifestyle. Obviously it has logos on it, but otherwise I could wear this for shopping or a yoga class or something like that. I think the consistency and quality is very good.
-What are your Foundation’s main objectives in 2019 and the biggest challenges you face in achieving those goals?
-We started in 2007 and it’s about providing opportunities for young players, especially girls, between the ages of 6 and 22 all the way through college. We have different initiatives, for the younger girls, invitationals for the middle-aged girls, and then college tournaments, so the goal is to create playing opportunities for them and inspire them to play better. The goal is to increase participation among juniors Fifteen years ago, about 15% of all juniors were girls. Today we are at 34%, which is a third, and we have doubled the numbers in fifteen years. I hope that in ten years we can reach at least 40 percent. There are always obstacles, but I also feel we have good momentum because people are spending more time on girls’ sports. We now have seven tournaments around the world: in Europe, the United States, China, Argentina and New Zealand, and it’s been fun. We have more than 600 girls every year – including 25 of them playing this week – who have played in Annika’s initiatives. Our goal is to continue to inspire girls around the world.
-What has been the most satisfying aspect of your transition from player to entrepreneur and philanthropist?
-I feel very fortunate to be a mom. We have two children, my husband and I, so that has been a very important part of my life. I think because I’m happy doing something I feel like doing, I can contribute my work to philanthropy and on the business side. It’s been a good balance. Sometimes there’s a lot of work with the Foundation, sometimes there’s a lot of field design, depending on the year, and then I also mix it up with my family, so I get up in the morning and there’s always something fun to do.
-If one or both of your children told you they wanted to be a professional golfer, what would your response be?
-I will support you in everything you do. Our goal is to introduce you to a lot of things, and then I want you to pick and choose what you like, which I will support you with. How could I say no when, without golf, I wouldn’t be here today? So I’m not going to deny them that opportunity. It’s hard as it is with anything. You have to work hard and practice, but you have to do that in anything you do in life.
-Your brand slogan is “Share my passion”. What would you say, to instill that passion, to a non-golfer who is reluctant to start playing?
-I would tell them that golf is an incredible game. Golf is a game you can play all your life; it’s a game for men and women, old and young. It has many benefits, not only from a social perspective – having fun and a drink after the game – but also on the golf course it’s a healthy sport. Recently there have been many statistics presented that talk about the health benefits of golf and the lower risks of cardiovascular disease, for example. It is also a mental game, it strengthens you mentally and is healthy in general, so it has many benefits. It’s never too late to start. It’s a game you can start now and you can play all your life.
-You are a U.S. ambassador for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. If you could make your own wish for the future of the women’s game, what would it be?
-I would love to see more opportunities for women, and obviously girls, to play. That would be my wish, and that’s what we’re working on. I’d also like to say that the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (created this year and played on the Masters stage) is one of those things you want to see more of.
-Would you consider playing competitively in senior tournaments again when you turn 50 (you are 48)?
I don’t know. I’m still very young (laughs). I don’t have any plans, but when I retired, 10 years ago, there really weren’t many tournaments. We didn’t have the US Senior, we didn’t have the PGA, and now you have both, but I don’t have any plans to play on a tour or anything, no.
-As for the future of golf in general, what is your view on the participation crisis in golf?
-I don’t know the statistics for the whole world or Europe, but I do know them in the United States because I’m part of the National Golf Foundation, and the number of players has been very stable over the last five years. The interesting thing is that there is interest, but we don’t know how to capitalize on that, what we call on-course and off-course participants. I’m talking about driving ranges, golf simulators and Topgolf (driving range which is kind of a huge bowling alley for playing golf), which has exploded. So somehow we have to get those golfers to the golf course. We have almost 50 million people doing some kind of golf activity, and then you add in the people who watch golf, so there’s about 100 million in the U.S. How do we get more of them to play golf? It’s a start to get them interested in golf, but I think we have to start looking at golf itself. It’s not just playing 18 holes: golf could be so much more than that.
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