VASATORPS GOLF CLUB 50 YEARS
Watch the anniversary film "from 9 to 57 holes"
You can find the entire film i.a. on Youtube; search at Vasatorp 50.
Vasatorp 50 years film – watch the whole movie here
The entire film is 50 minutes long as a lot has happened at Vasatorp over the years.
What do Annika Sörenstam, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Greg Norman have in common?
Reply: They have all competed at Vasatorps Golfklubb even though the club was only formed in 1973. What a journey we have made from nine to 57 holes in 50 years!
1974 – The first 18 holes were inaugurated as the Old Course (Bruce).
2008 – Another 18 holes completed on our award winning Tournament Course (Hills/Forrest).
2013 – New stretches of holes, greens and fairways when the Old Course became the Classic Course (Bruce/Persson/Fock/Forrest).
2022 – Allèbanan was rebuilt and became Park Course 12 holes. (Benestam)
ESTABLISHED 1973
The project "Golf course at Vasatorp" took shape...
Vasatorps Golfklubb was formed in January 1973 in connection with an introductory meeting with over 400 participants. The initiative to found the club was taken by the then head of Skanska, Ulf Widerström, who believed that the land around Vasatorps Gård would be excellent as a golf course and recreation area. The land was then owned by Skanska and Göran Bengtssons Byggnads AB. In 1972, Ulf Widerström contacted track architect Thure Bruce, who immediately began sketching a track. Eventually a committee was formed with among others the members Allan Persson (later the club's first chairman), Olof Mathiasson and Walter Bengtsson. Project "Golf course at Vasatorp" was now a fact. The first nine holes were quickly completed, and already in 1974 the club could boast of a completed 18-hole facility. Even then, the club's membership was 700, which has grown to around 3 today.
COMPETITIONS
SEO (predecessor of the Nordea Masters), Compaq Open and LET (Ladies European Tour) are just the beginning…
The course's fine reputation quickly spread across the country and reached, among others, Sven Tumba, who immediately decided that SEO (Nordea Masters' predecessor) would be played at Vasatorp. The competition was played here for three years (1978-1980) and the winners in these editions were, in that order, the not entirely unknown players Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Greg Norman.
In 1978, the Association of Golf Journalists named Vasatorp's Golf Club "Golf Club of the Year".
After the SEO era, a series of competitions, both national and international, have visited Vasatorp. SISM, JSM, Ramlösa Open, Helsingborg Golf Open, Jubilee Championship and an international match between Scotland and Sweden can be mentioned.
In August 2002, the Compaq Open was decided on a sun-drenched Vasatorp with our own Annika Sörenstam as the supreme winner. The competition was one of the biggest on the Ladies European Tour, but above all it was ranked as one of the most popular among the world stars. No less than 63 spectators visited Vasatorp during these competition days.
In 2013, the JSM Slag was played at Vasatorp TC and in the autumn the ladies stars of the LET (Ladies European Tour) returned to Vasatorp GK to fight for the victory in the Helsingborg Open, a competition that was held here in 2013-2015. The winner of the Helsingborg Open 2013 was Rebecca Artis, the Dutch Dewi Schreefel outclassed the 2014 starting field with a winning score of -17 and the Danish Nicole Broch Larsen won the last edition. Home player Johanna Björk won the JSM Match and Jesper Svensson won on the boys' side. In 2019 and 2022, Vasatorp had the honor of hosting one of the biggest amateur competitions for girls, the Annika Invitational. In the last-mentioned year, SM-Klublag for ladies also took place on our beautiful Classic Course.
SKILLED PLAYERS
Gabriel Hjertstedt (in 1997 became the first Swede to win on the PGA Tour in the USA) comes from Vasatorp with several other…
Vasatorp's Junior program with the club's first pro Jim Suckling and later Keith Davies and Stefan Kronvall has over the years developed players such as Mikael Krantz, Gabriel Hjertstedt (in 1997 became the first Swede to win on the PGA tour in the USA), Kalle Brink, Mikael Lundberg (pictured) and Steven Jeppesen. All of these have reached the absolute golf elite. The club's men's team has also distinguished itself by winning, among other things, the team championship in 1991, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2011. In 2013, the team fell into sudden death. In 2014, it was the ladies' turn to win the SM club team.
That the junior training is of a high standard has also been confirmed by the fact that Vasatorp received the Swedish Golf Association's award as Sweden's best junior club two years in a row (2004 and 2005). Nowadays, the club's coaches share the driving range and practice area with RIG (National Sports High School), which moved here in 2014.
COMPLETE FACILITY
Vasatorp is so much more than just Sweden's best course (2015, 2016 and 2017)...
In 2005, work began on a new 18-hole course, designed by the American architectural firm Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates, they belong to one of the leading course architect firms in the world. The new track TC, the Tournament Course, was inaugurated on June 6, 2008 with the aim of holding the highest international championship class.
The club now has a total of 57 unique holes on four different courses of varying character. From the discontinued nine-hole course with superb opportunities for practice, to the TC that requires a completely new strategic thinking, both from recreational golfers and elite golfers. Vasatorp thus takes a step closer to the vision of becoming Scandinavia's best golf experience.
In 2013, the newly renovated Gamla Banan was reopened after the greens and fairways were redone. Show hole stretches have been changed to modernize the layout. During this summer's 40th anniversary, the course opened as the Classic Course.
During the autumn, the club was rewarded for its hard work when TC was named Sweden's best course in 2015, 2016 and 2017 according to the World Golf Awards.
Vasatorp has a facility for all golfers, from tennis players to veterans and elites.
