From Scandinavia to Tennessee to playing on the European Challenge Tour. Icelander Guðmundur Kristjánsson opens up about his fascinating journey so far and how he has arrived at this point in his career.
What was it like growing up in Iceland?
There was not much sunlight in the wintertime, I just played football and wanted to be a footballer. I’m a massive Arsenal fan and was watching them every weekend and dreaming of playing for them up until aged 12 or 13. I quickly realised I was a bit better at golf and I decided that’s exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn’t play that much abroad. My first event abroad was in 2007 when I was 14, so I found it a bit rough the first two or three years playing away from home, you don’t really find proper courses in Iceland and it’s a completely different game, so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me, you had to find out what you needed to do and what level you had to take your game to. But I had some success and in 2010 at a junior event called Duke of York (Duke of York Young Champions Trophy) and it has been onwards and upwards since then.
Iceland isn’t a typical place to play golf. What is golf like in Iceland and when did you start playing?
When I was growing up, it was mainly indoor stuff really. The indoor facility at my home course was a massive room, which helped me develop my technique and my putting. They built this massive outdoor facility in 2004 or 2005 which then meant I could play all year round and courses were always opening late April-early May. My whole family plays golf, my dad went to University in America and he picked up golf there and I’ve never looked back.
You won three times on the Nordic Golf League in 2019, do you think that was a turning point in your career?
Yes definitely. The previous year had been much better than the one before that so I was trending in the right direction. I was working with an Icelandic coach since 2016, he lived in Berlin at the time but he moved back home in December 2018, so that was quite big for me getting to see him weekly and not having to fly out for lessons, so that helped me a lot and it really took my game to a new level. Winning isn’t easy and to do it in 12 tournaments is brilliant.
You went to college in Tennessee what was that like?
It developed me quite a bit, and I met some great coaches and that helped me a lot in terms of getting a vision of what I want my technique to look like. I had some success there I won a couple of times and played Nationals, so it was definitely a good stepping stone towards going pro.
The weather is beautiful here in the Czech Republic. What are you hoping to achieve at the Czech Challenge?
I would be happy with something similar to last week (Kristjánsson finished T12 in Ireland). I’ve been struggling with an injury since before the Grand Final last year and I haven’t really practiced much in the past six or seven months, so I’m just having a bit of fun here and trying to get back in the swing of things.
What is the aim for the rest of year?
I know what I can do when I’m healthy. If I get healthy at some point in the next month or two, I would just be happy because my game just doesn’t feel the same and it’s been hard to deal with at times but when you know it you can manage your way around it and get on with it. I don’t have much pain at all, I sometimes just lose a bit of grip strength after hitting 20 to 30 balls, but I’m making steady progress.
