The DP World Tour returns to Sweden this week as Halmstad Golf Club plays host to the 2022 Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed. Here are your five things to know.
Innovation and gender equality at the forefront again
For the second year running, DP World Tour members and leading players on the Ladies European Tour will come together in Sweden.
The co-sanctioned event will feature a field of 78 men and 78 women playing in the same groups for one prize fund and one trophy, the only tournament of its kind on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.
This year’s tournament also has an increased prize fund of US$2million, which is up from the €1million purse for 2021.
Caldwell defends
Defending champion Jonathan Caldwell was one of 14 first-time winners on the DP World Tour during the 2021 season.
The Northern Irishman began the final round at Vallda Golf and Country Club three shots off the lead but carded a brilliant 64 to get to 17 under and set the target.
Adrian Otaegui had a chance to win it on the last but three putted the 18th for the only bogey of his closing 67 to finish one shot back in second, with Alice Hewson in third place and as the leading female golfer.
The victory was the culmination of a long road to the winner’s circle for Caldwell, who first came through the Qualifying School in 2008 before he made his way back to the main Tour via the same route in 2019 after a decade away.
“Last year at Vallda was such an awesome experience,” said Caldwell. “I was proud of how I closed out my first Tour victory on such a big occasion. To be part of history is something special and I can’t wait to defend my title at a new golf course.”
After missing the cut in his last four events, Caldwell is hoping to call on positive memories at Halmstad.
Sustainability initiatives
The Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed is an innovator in sustainability, with several initiatives in place as the tournament looks to become fully carbon neutral.
The use of electric bikes and shuttle services for fans is being promoted, while tournament hosts Henrik Stenson and Annika Sörenstam are collaborating with GEO Foundation to offset carbon emissions for golf related travel in the 2022 season.
A beach clean-up day is also being held by Stena Recycling - Sweden's leading recycling company – to educate the local population and players further. All branding is made from recyclable and sustainable materials, including those used in the staging of last year’s event.
Furthermore, for every ticket sold, one tree will be planted to help offset the tournament’s carbon footprint.
Swedish stars targeting success
Tournament hosts Henrik Stenson and Annika Sörenstam, who were inducted into the Swedish Golf Hall of Fame on Monday, are joined by a number of home favourites in the field this week.
Ryder Cup winner Alex Noren, a ten-time DP World Tour winner, returns to Sweden for the first time since 2019 as he bids for a third career victory on home soil after doing so in 2011 and 2015.
Maja Stark is the current leader in the Race to Costa del Sol – the Ladies European Tour’s season-long Rankings – after registering a victory at the NSW Open last month and six top tens in her first seven tournaments of the campaign.
There will also be much attention on Ingrid Lindblad after her six-under 65 in the first round of last week’s U.S. Open, the lowest round by an amateur in the 77-year history of the Major Championship.
Meanwhile, Linn Grant, who sits third in the Ladies European Tour rankings, claimed a five-shot victory at the Joburg Ladies Open in just her first start on the LET as a full member in March. She claimed her second title in five starts at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open last month.
Speaking in April ahead of her first event in Sweden as a professional, Grant said: “I’m really excited to be playing as a professional in the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed at Halmstad after a great experience at Vallda Golf and Country Club when I finished tied 18th in the tournament as an amateur.”
New venue
The inaugural edition of the tournament was held last June at Vallda Golf and Country Club near Gothenburg.
This year the event moves to famous North Course at Halmstad, located in Tylösand, which provided the backdrop for the 2007 Solheim Cup, where tournament host Annika Sörenstam contributed 2.5 points for Team Europe.
Designed by Rafael Sundblom, the father of Swedish golf course architecture, it was given the seal of approval from the Swedish Golf Federation in May of 1938 and was officially opened for play in September of the same year.
It is the first time that Halmstad will host the DP World Tour, but over the years it has hosted events on the Challenge Tour and Ladies European Tour, most recently welcoming amateur golfers for the ANNIKA Invitational Europe in 2017.
