Reflection on what happened in the week May 14th-20th in Golf in Iceland

Among the best things that happened in the week May 14th – May 20th 2012 was that Kristján Þór Einarsson, GK, who plays golf with “The Colonels” at Nicholls State in Louisiana in the US was named Third team All-SLC at Nicholls State. Kristján Þór won once this season at the Harold Funston Invitational and is the one Icelander who has won most often in US College Golf or 3 times in all.  You can read more about Kristján Þórs achievement HERE: 

On May 17th Birgir Björn Magnússon, GK, one of Iceland´s most promising juniors in golf got a hole in one at Garðavöllur in Akranes, while he was practicing for the 1st competition (of 6) in the Junior Championship presented by Arion bank, held May 19th-20th.  (Read more about the Icelandic Junior Championships in another article here on Golf 1).

Birgir Björn Magnússon, GK, got a hole in one at the 8th hole of Garðavöllur in Akranes May 17th 2012. Photo: Magnús Birgisson

On May 17th one of the larger open tournaments here in Iceland at the beginning of the golf season took place i.e. the TaylorMade/Adidas Open at Korpa golfcourse at Golf Club Reykjavík. This year Sigurjón Arnarson won the stroke play part of the tournament and Samúel Karl Arnarson the Stableford points part.

Sigurjón Arnarson (to the left) won the stroke play part of the anual TaylorMade/Adidas Open at Korpa, one of Iceland´s biggest tournaments opening the golfseason each year. Photo: Golf 1.

More on a tragic note: On May 17th Ólafur E. Ólafsson, manager of Golf Club Kópavogur and Garðabær (GKG) died, whilst playing golf only 53 years old.

Ólafur E. Ólafsson, manager of GKG. Photo: GKG.

On May 16th-18th Tinna Jóhannsdóttir took part in the Ljungbyhed Park PGA Ladies Open in Sweden, but the tournament is part of the LET Access Series. Unfortunately Tinna didn´t make the cut.

Tinna Jóhannsdóttir, GK. Photo: gsimyndir.net.

On May 17th-19th Ólafur Björn Loftsson played his last match for the Charlotte 49´s in the NCAA Greensboro Regionals.  The tournament took place at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center.  Ólafur Björn got a score of 13 over par, 229 strokes (75 80 74). This summer Ólafur has participated in the St. Andrews Trophy Links and the British Open Amateur but didn´t make the cut in either tournament. He plans on becoming a pro this fall.

Ólafur Björn Loftsson on one of his favorite golfcourses in Iceland – the Vestmanna Islands golfcourse. Photo: gsimyndir.net

On May 20th the 5th of 10 Senior Golf Tournaments deciding the makeup of the Icelandic Senior golfteams for the EM took place in Keflavík at the Golf Club Suðurnesja (GS).  The winners in that tournament were Auður Dúadóttir, Steinunn Sæmundsdóttir, Þorsteinn Geirharðsson, Þórir V Þórisson and Sigurður Albertsson.

Finally worth mentioning in this reflection of this week late in May is that one golfcourse after the other opened their doors again here in Iceland after a much too long winter. For example on May 20th Golf Club Bakkakot in Mosfellsdalur, in the vicinity of Reykjavík, opened after the winterseason with a Texas Scramble tournament.  It´s a very pleasant 9-hole course, close to former home of Icelands Nobel Prize winner in literature, Halldór Laxnes, but his home is now a museum. If you come and play golf in Iceland you can combine golf and culture by playing a round at Bakkakot and visit the Halldor Laxnes museum in Mosfellsdalur afterwards and even go pony riding on the Laxnes horse farm nearby.

Traffic Sign by the turn to the Bakkakot golfcourse of GOB. Photo: Golf 1.