Girls U16 Amateur

Larsson leads field after day one of Girls' U16 at Enville

The R&A

28 Apr 23

3 mins

Emma Larsson isn’t listed on the World Amateur Golf Ranking®. She will be next week if she carries on as she started in the opening round of the R&A Girls' U16 Amateur Championship at Enville Golf Club.

The 16-year-old Swede was the only player in the field to go bogey-free, returning a two-under-par 70 around Enville’s 5,870-yard Highgate course. Larsson recorded birdies at the fifth and 10th holes. She holds a one-shot lead over German teenager Antonia Steiner, who sits 816th on the WAGR table. “I hit many fairways and greens and rolled in some putts as well,” said Larsson, a plus 1.8 handicapper at S:t Arild Golfklubb, about an hour from Malmo. “I got a few nice bounces too. It was a bogey-free round so that was pretty nice. It’s been a while since I did that.”

College dreams

Larsson is currently ranked 39th on the Under-16 European Golf Rankings, but she’s intent on getting on the WAGR table to realise her dream of playing college golf in the United States. She arrived in the United Kingdom after recording four top 10s at home, including two third-place finishes. “I’ve had a good start to the year and I came here with the feeling of wanting to win this. It would mean a lot to win because I’m not in the WAGR yet. Winning this would mean a lot to getting on there and hopefully some of (American) college coaches would see me. It would be a nice start of my international career. I’ve got a busy year with a lot of competitions.”

Emma Larsson - Sweden 🇸🇪

“I hit many fairways and greens and rolled in some putts as well. I got a few nice bounces too. It was a bogey-free round so that was pretty nice. It’s been a while since I did that.”

Swedish role models

Larsson, who finishes high school this year before a four-year college stint at Praktiska Gymnasiet Helsingborg, where she will combine golf and studies, counts two Swedish women as her role models. “Annika Sorenstam and Linn Grant are my heroes. They inspire me a lot. My mum and my dad know Linn. I haven’t played golf with her yet, but I’ve actually got some clothes from her.” LPGA player Grant spent four years at Arizona State University and Larsson wants one day to follow in her footsteps by playing for a prestigious college. “I want to play college golf in the United States. A dream college would be like Stanford or Duke or Oklahoma State or Arizona State. I dream of that.”

Golf or volleyball?

Larsson had to choose between golf and volleyball when she was 14, and opted for the royal and ancient game. She still watches a lot of volleyball when she’s at home in Sweden. “I used to play volley ball and watch it a lot. I quit playing at 14 to concentrate on golf. I’d probably be a scratch player at volley ball if I had to give myself a handicap in that sport.” Larsson’s biggest achievements in golf so far are winning consecutive Teen Cups in her homeland, winning for the first time in 2020 and successfully defending the title in 2021. The Girls' U16 Championship would be a major step up from those achievements, and give her that much-coveted WAGR status.

Steiner makes fast start

Steiner started with back-to-back birdies, dropped a shot at the fourth hole, birdied the 10th only to give the shot back on the next hole. Ireland’s Olivia Costello, the highest WAGR player at 240th, returned a 1-over 73 and sits in third place with five other players. Teammate Roisin Scanlon, who holds the lowest handicap in the field at plus 4.1, struggled to an 8-over 80. She is equal 46th in a 90-player field hailing from 22 countries, including participants from Puerto Rico, Thailand and the United States for the first time.

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