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Catrin Nilsmark
Nilsmark (2013)
Personal information
Full name	Maria Catrin Sandberg Nilsmark
Born	(1967-08-30) 30 August 1967 (age 57) Gothenburg, Sweden
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Sporting nationality	Sweden
Residence	Danderyd, Stockholm, Sweden
Spouse	Per-Uno Sandberg
Children	Tuva Augusta, Sigge
Career
College	University of South Florida
Turned professional	1987
Former tour(s)	LPGA Tour (1995–2005) Ladies European Tour
Professional wins	8
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	1
Ladies European Tour	2
Other	5
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron Championship	T15: 2003
Women's PGA C'ship	T9: 1998
U.S. Women's Open	7th: 1996
du Maurier Classic	T34: 1999
Women's British Open	T4: 2002

Catrin Maria Nilsmark (born 30 August 1967) is a Swedish professional golfer who played on both the United States–based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She appeared for Europe at the Solheim Cup five times and captained the winning team in 2003.

Early life

Nilsmark was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. She grew up in Lerum east of Gothenburg and began her golf career at Öijared Golf Club, Sweden's first golf club with two 18-hole courses.

Amateur career

In 1984 she became the Swedish Youth under-19 Champion. She won the Orange Bowl International Junior Championship in Coral Gables, Florida in December 1984. She played one year of collegiate golf at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.

Professional career

Nilsmark turned professional in 1987 but her early career was hampered by a whiplash injury sustained in a car accident. She had her maiden LET victory at the 1994 Ford Golf Classic at Woburn Golf and Country Club, England and joined the U.S.-based LPGA Tour in 1995 having tied for 15th at the 1994 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn exempt status.

She had two victories in 1999. On the Ladies European Tour, she won the Evian Masters in Évian-les-Bains, France, beating Laura Davies, who was at the top of her career, with two strokes. That victory came the year before the tournament became an LPGA co-sanctioned event. It was later designated by the LPGA Tour as a major championship in women's golf. Nilsmark also won the 1999 Valley of the Stars Championship at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California on the LPGA Tour, beating Annika Sörenstam in a playoff. Nilsmark finished the year a career best second on the Ladies European Tour and 40th on the LPGA Tour.

Nilsmark played in the Solheim Cup in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000, sinking the winning putt in 1992 in Europe's first victory over the United States. She was the victorious European Solheim Cup captain in 2003 at Barsebäck Golf &Country Club in her native Sweden, despite suffering from a serious back injury and leading the European team walking with crutches on the course, and the losing captain in the 2005 match. She was captain of The 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team.

Her career was interrupted by injuries and pregnancy in 2004, but in 2008, she came back to competitive golf, playing regularly on the Swedish Golf Tour, at the time named SAS Masters Tour, representing Vidbynäs Golf Club and winning twice. She later came to represent Stockholm Golf Club.

After retiring from tournament golf in 2008, she came back at 52 years of age, playing two tournaments on the Swedish Golf Tour in 2019.

Awards, honors

In 1992, she was, by the Swedish Golf Federation, awarded the Golden Club, the highest award for contributions to Swedish golf, as the 15th recipient.

In 1994, she earned Elite Sign No. 99 by the Swedish Golf Federation, on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances.

In 1998, Nilsmark was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.

She is an honorary member at Öijared Golf Club, Sweden and at Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Personal life

Nilsmark in 1995 married Henrik Wickberg and after their divorce, she 1998-2007 was married to Fredrik Hellqvist, sport journalist and former head of Swedish European Tour tournament Scandinavian Masters 2005–2013. During her LPGA Tour career, Nilsmark and Hellqvist, who changed his last name to Nilsmark, lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, in a house formerly owned by Tony Jacklin and situated close to were Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik lived.

She later married Per-Uno Sandberg and the couple resides in Danderyd, north of Stockholm, Sweden.

She has two children, daughter Tuva Augusta, born 1997 and son, Sigge, born 2004. In the seventh month of her pregnancy in 1997, she competed in the LET tournament Compaq Open in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing lone runner-up to Annika Sörenstam, ahead of third placed Nancy Lopez. The following week, she won on the Swedish Golf Tour.

She worked as a golf commentator in Sweden at the television channel Viasat Golf 2007–2017.

Amateur wins

• 1984 Swedish Youth under-19 Championship, Orange Bowl International Junior Championship

Professional wins (8)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up	Ref
1	14 Feb 1999	Valley of the Stars Championship	–12 (68-65-71=204)	Playoff	Annika Sörenstam

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1999	Valley of the Stars Championship	Annika Sörenstam	Won with par on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Ref
1	24 Apr 1994	Ford Golf Classic	−12 (73-68-73-70=284)	4 strokes	Trish Johnson, Joanne Morley
2	12 Jun 1999	Evian Masters	−9 (69-70-72-68=279)	2 strokes	Laura Davies

1. Note: Nilsmark won The Evian Championship (formerly named the Evian Masters) before it was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour in 2000 and recognized as a major championship on the LPGA Tour in 2013.

Swedish Golf Tour wins (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	19 May 1991	Höganäs Ladies Open	212 (−4)	5 strokes	Maria Bertilsköld (a)
2	31 Aug 1997	Lerum Ladies Open	209 (−7)	6 strokes	Sara Melin, Susann Norberg Pernilla Sterner, Malin Tveit
3	7 Sep 1997	Öhrlings Swedish Matchplay	3&2		Nina Karlsson
4	6 Jun 2008	IT-Arkitekterna Ladies Open	219 (+3)	2 strokes	Josefin Leijon, Zuzana Mašínová
5	30 Aug 2008	PGA Ladies Open	219 (+3)	1 stroke	Zuzana Mašínová

Results in LPGA majors

^ The Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA major in 2001.

CUT = missed the half-way cut.
"T" tied.

Team appearances

Professional

• Solheim Cup (representing Europe): 1992 (winners), 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (non-playing captain, winners), 2005 (non-playing captain)
• Praia d'El Rey European Cup (representing Ladies European Tour): 1998 (tie)
• Handa Cup (representing World team): 2012 (tie)

References

1. "Past Champions". Junior Orange Bowl. Archived from the original on 2 November 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
2. ^ "Catrin Nilsmark Career Highlights". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
3. "Catrin Nilsmark Player Profile". Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
4. "Tävling, WPGET" [Competition, WPGET]. Svensk Golf. May 1994. p. 107.
5. Park, Martin (14 August 2002). "Nilsmark announced as 2003 European captain". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
6. Park, Martin (10 September 2003). "Agony for Captain Catrin". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
7. Park, Martin (16 February 2004). "Catrin Nilsmark retains captaincy for 2005 Solheim". Ladies European Tour. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
8. "Nilsmark named Captain of The 2007 European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team". Ladies European Tour. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
9. Jansson, Anders (2004). Golf - Den stora sporten [Golf - The great sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. p. 96. ISBN 91-86818007.
10. Jansson, Anders (2004). Golf - Den stora sporten, Elitmärket [Golf - The great sport, Elite Sign] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. p. 97. ISBN 91-86818007.
11. "PGA of Sweden, Utmärkelser, Hedersmedlemar" [PGA of Sweden, Awards, Honorary Members] (in Swedish). PGA of Sweden. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
12. "Catrin har landat" [Catrin has landet]. Svensk Golf. June 2008. pp. 184–186.
13. Golf – Den stora sporten [Golf – The great sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. 2004. p. 283.
14. Luther, Sylvia (March 1995). "Grattis till brudparet" [Congratulations to the married couple]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 3. p. 10.
15. "Månadens intervju" [Interview of the month]. Svensk Golf. June 2000. pp. 60–68.
16. Brännholm, Mattias (April 1999). "Nilsmarks första..., Tävling" [Nilsmark's first..., Competition]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 4. pp. 124–126, 144. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

External links

• Catrin Nilsmark at the Legends Tour official site (also at former site)
• Catrin Nilsmark at the Golfdata official site (in Swedish)

Catrin Nilsmark at the Solheim Cup

v t e European Solheim Cup team – 1992 Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Florence Descampe Kitrina Douglas Trish Johnson Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Pam Wright Mickey Walker (non-playing captain) Won: 11.5 – 6.5 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 1994 Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Lora Fairclough Trish Johnson Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Annika Sörenstam Pam Wright Mickey Walker (non-playing captain) Lost: 7 – 13 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 1996 Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Lisa Hackney Trish Johnson Kathryn Marshall Joanne Morley Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Dale Reid Annika Sörenstam Mickey Walker (non-playing captain) Lost: 11 – 17 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 1998 Helen Alfredsson Laura Davies Marie-Laure de Lorenzi Sophie Gustafson Lisa Hackney Trish Johnson Catriona Matthew Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Annika Sörenstam Charlotta Sörenstam Pia Nilsson (non-playing captain) Lost: 12 – 16 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 2000 Helen Alfredsson Raquel Carriedo Laura Davies Sophie Gustafson Trish Johnson Carin Koch Patricia Meunier-Lebouc Janice Moodie Liselotte Neumann Alison Nicholas Catrin Nilsmark Annika Sörenstam Dale Reid (non-playing captain) Won: 14.5 – 11.5 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 2003 Laura Davies Elisabeth Esterl Sophie Gustafson Carin Koch Catriona Matthew Mhairi McKay Patricia Meunier-Lebouc Janice Moodie Suzann Pettersen Ana Belén Sánchez Annika Sörenstam Iben Tinning Catrin Nilsmark (non-playing captain) Won: 17.5 – 10.5 v t e European Solheim Cup team – 2005 Laura Davies Sophie Gustafson Maria Hjorth Trish Johnson Carin Koch Ludivine Kreutz Catriona Matthew Gwladys Nocera Suzann Pettersen Annika Sörenstam Karen Stupples Iben Tinning Catrin Nilsmark (non-playing captain) Alison Nicholas (non-playing assistant captain) Lost: 12.5 – 15.5

• Swedish female golfers
• South Florida Bulls women's golfers
• Ladies European Tour golfers
• LPGA Tour golfers
• Solheim Cup competitors for Europe
• Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
• Golfers from Gothenburg
• Golfers from Stockholm
• 1967 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Swedish sportswomen