Student Series

Student Tour golfers defy Mother Nature on day two in Sweden

The R&A

11 Sep 24

3 mins

Mother Nature tried hard to derail the opening event of the 2024/25 R&A Student Tour Series (STS). A two hour and 16-minute rain delay to the second round thanks to 50 millimeters of precipitation in two days wasn’t ideal for the first STS event ever played in Sweden.

Leaderboards

However, the best student golfers have themselves a golf event to finish thanks to Halmstad Golf Club’s excellent greenkeeping staff. The only problem now is picking winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments. Five players – two men and three women – head into final round with a chance to kick off the season with a win. Four of them are looking to earn their maiden victories, while two are making their STS debuts. Joint first round leader Thomas Abom of Maynooth University keeps his place at the top of the men’s leaderboard. He has company in the shape of South Africa’s Judd Sundelson, a University of St Andrews scholar. They sit on five-under-par 139, four shots ahead of five players sharing third spot. Halmstad player Elice Fredriksson, who won her first STS tournament in Spain last year, is joined at the top of the women’s leaderboard on level-par by St Andrews players Ellie Monk and Judy Joo. The trio hold a one-stroke advantage on the University of Stirling’s Ellie Docherty.

A bit of a grind

First-year business and sports management student Abom and Sundelson, who is studying for a master’s degree in finance and banking, didn’t have things their own way in round two. Both had to adapt their games to plot their way around the 2007 Solheim Cup venue. While Abom started his first STS event with a five-under-par 67, he was five shots worse in round two. “Today was a bit of grind,” said Abom, who arrived in Sweden fresh from winning the Irish Amateur Close Championship. “I scrambled well and made a score out of it so I’m happy enough. If you’d told me I’d be tied for the lead after 36 holes of my first student tournament then I’d have been happy because you want to be in contention to win a tournament.” Sundelson is playing just his third STS event after Portugal and France earlier this year, when he placed sixth and 12^threspectively. At least he had a full set of clubs for those tournaments. “My driver broke on Monday, so I got a new driver from the pro shop and I’m not entirely comfortable with it yet,” the plus four member of Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg said. “My first two tee shots today with my driver were the worst shots I hit all day, so I went to my 3-wood and settled down. I just tried to keep the ball in play.”

Ellie Monk - University of St Andrews

“I learned a lot from playing the last Student Tour and that helped me win the Helen Holm. Obviously the goal now is to win a student tournament.”

Well organised

Sundelson was at Nottingham University before St Andrews and didn’t really know the STS existed. “I’m loving this Series because we go to places I’ve never been to before, like here, France and Portugal. And they are so well run. It’s a credit to how well organised they are that we got to play today. Most of us thought rain would wipe out play. “I’d love to do well and have a chance to win the order of merit this year." That thought is foremost in Fredriksson’s mind after finishing runner up to Maynooth’s Kate Lanigan last season by just three points. Like Monk, the Swedish player has returned consecutive level-par 72s to get to the top of the leaderboard. Victory in Spain last season, along with winning The St Rule Trophy this summer, has given Fredriksson the confidence she needs to envisage an even better 2024/25 season. “The Student Tour has really helped me develop as a golfer,” she said. “That’s why I’m looking forward to playing it again this year.” Monk is in her second STS season. Like Fredriksson, she had a major victory in the summer, winning the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open. She said, “I learned a lot from playing the last Student Tour and that helped me win the Helen Holm. Obviously the goal now is to win a student tournament.” Joo is in her first year of university life. She holds Korean and American citizenship but has spent most of her life in Japan. She is the only player in the women’s field to shoot under par, returning a second round 71, one-under, after her opening 73.

Great experience

“I was able to maintain my composure today and not get upset over a few missed putts,” said the 19-year-old management and economics scholar. “I’m happy I did the best I could and managed to make a good score. “I’ve won the Japan All-star tournament and the Japan Junior Players Championship two years in a row. But the Student Tour is a great new experience for me. I can’t wait to play all these tournaments.” If she carries on the way she has started in Sweden, she may just enter the next STS event at Belvoir Park Golf Club in Ireland as a winner. That also goes for Abom, Monk and Sundelson.

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