The Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson will be the first European Challenge Tour event to be staged in the country since 2011, with play getting underway on August 4.
Ricardo Santos won The Princess by Schüco at PGA of Sweden National in Bara the last time the Scandinavian country hosted an event and the Portuguese is set to return for this year’s tournament, hosted by 11-time European Tour winner Karlsson.
Katrineholms GK, located to the south-west of Stockholm, will provide the setting for a number of home-grown players who will be eager to continue their homeland’s success on the Challenge Tour, including Alexander Björk, Sebastian Soderberg and Marcus Kinhult.
In total, Sweden have produced 12 players who have won four or more Challenge Tour events, five more than the next most successful nation.
The country has a proud history of successful graduates, with perhaps the most notable being 2016 Open Championship winner Henrik Stenson. The 40 year old enjoyed a sparkling year on the Challenge Tour in 2000, winning three events and finishing top of the rankings.
Johan Edfors became the third Swedish player to top the rankings in 2003, when he won two events in a year and claimed seven other top ten finishes. Edfors has since gone on to win three European Tour events, all of which came in 2006.
2015 BMW Masters winner Kristoffer Broberg also came through the Challenge Tour, finishing second in the rankings in 2012 with four victories and an average event finishing position of 3.29. The 29 year old’s victory in Shanghai last November was the 100th European Tour Victory by a Swedish player.
