Leonie Harm may be modest about her efforts fighting Covid-19 but she had every reason to shout about her golf game as she fired an opening 67 at the 2021 Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika.
History was made on day one at Vallda Golf and Country Club as a field of 78 men and 78 women teed off over the same course playing for one trophy and one prize fund of €1,000,000.
German Harm arrived in Sweden in fine form having followed a runner up finish at last month's Investec South African Women's Open with a top 50 at the U.S. Women's Open.
But during last year's first lockdown, she was using her academic prowess more than her golfing skills as she helped CureVac in their efforts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
“I studied biochemistry at the University of Houston and we weren’t allowed to practise or play in Germany during the first lockdown," she said.
"I wanted to make sure to help where help was needed. I didn’t do anything super important at CureVac, but I was a lab assistant and helped speed up the work.
"For me it was a great experience because I could build on what I learned in school, so that was really nice collecting some practical experience.”
The 23-year-old started her opening round with a bogey but eagled the par five sixth, added birdies on the seventh and ninth and then made another eagle on the par five tenth.
She gave that one back with a double bogey on the next but gains on the 14th and 16th saw her get to five under.
“After the US Women’s Open, it was great to play on a course where there’s not just danger everywhere," she said. "You can go for birdies and go for pins, and you can attack a bit and let loose on the drives because there is not terrible rough everywhere. You can go out and enjoy scoring low which is what we do this game for.
“It’s nice to get the eagles, I didn’t particularly go for them. The shots ended up being pretty close and why not try to make the putt? They were both within 10-15 feet.
"On 10, I made eagle and then on 11, I made a double bogey right after, so in my mind I said 'that was two nice pars' because in the end it is the same. It was so much fun!"
