Joakim Haeggman was the first Swedish-born golfer to compete in the Ryder Cup and a day after attending the 2014 Ryder Cup he was thrilled after a first visit to the Crail Golfing Society.
Haeggman joined a group of eight players who are members of the Kalmar Golf Club, a 36-hole complex located around a four-hour drive south-east of Stockholm. The club was founded in 1947 and is notable as the first hole of the Old Course requires a tee shot over a portion of the Baltic Sea.
Three-time European Tour winner Joakim Haeggman visits Crail Golfing Society. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
It was a special return to the East Neuk of Fife for the now 45-year old three-time European Tour winner who ended his full-time career on the Tour by competing in the 2011 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship competing at nearby Kingsbarns.
Since then Haeggman has been instrumental in organising some 15 BMW sponsored amateur events in Sweden.
Haeggman was just 24 years of age when European Ryder Cup Captain and Crail Golfing Society life member, Bernard Gallacher handed him a ‘wildcard’ pick for the 1993 Ryder Cup at The Belfry. He had finished one place outside of automatically qualifying for the team on the back of capturing the Spanish Open and enjoyed nine other top-10 finishes that year.
Among Haeggman’s team mates that year was some of the greats of the European Tour including Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo and Scotland’s own Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomerie.
The 1993 European Team went down by two points to a Tom Watson led USA side before Haeggman was chosen in 2002 by Torrance and then by Langer two years later to be a European vice-captain and savouring success on both occasions.
Haeggman also has the distinction of being the first Swede to play all four Majors.
However there was a little anxiety when Haeggman played his opening Balcomie Links that was heading well right and into deep rough at the back
Joakim Haeggman under the Sweden flag ahead of teeing off for a first time on the Balcomie Links course at Crail. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
of the 14th green so much so he played a provisional. However he found his first from where Haeggman superbly managed to save par.
The Swede then continued to show signs of the form that earned him victory also in the 1997 Volvo Scandinavian Masters and 2004 Commerical Bank Qatar Masters.
And the jovial Haeggman still adopts his all too familiar ‘ground level’ stance in lining up his putts.
“I was getting down low and virtually lying on the ground to read my putts about 15 years before Camilo Villegas followed me,” he joked.
Overall, Haeggman recorded five birdies in his round of a three-under par 66 highlighted by a superb third shot into the par five, 12th hole where, after having had to wait for some time for the group ahead, he elected instead to lay-up short of the burn from where he pitched to just six inches for the easiest of birdies.
“It’s been lovely playing the Balcomie course today with the views and the scenery just spectacular,” he said.
Crail’s Assistant Professional David Snodgrass offering Joakim Haeggman and his party a few tips before their round on the Balcomie Links course. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“The course is as nice and enjoyable as ever I’ve experienced in playing golf along the shoreline in Scotland.
“Of course, one of the reasons in being Swedish and coming to play golf in Scotland is that we have so many golf courses back home but the great majority are inland courses. We only have a handful, including Barseback, that are laid out close to the coast.
“So it’s just been lovely for myself and my seven playing partners to visit Crail for a first time, as it’s been one of the courses along this stretch of coastline in Scotland I hadn’t played before as we’ve all just enjoyed the experience so much.”
Haggeman singled out three holes on the Balcomie Links as his favourites – the fourth and fifth holes along with the par three, 14th.
“The fourth and fifth holes are great golf holes while you can see why so many people want to take photographs on the 14th tee as that’s a lovely golf hole with such a great view,” he said.
“Overall, the golf course is a tough mix with some of the par threes not to be taken lightly.
“So I was delighted to shoot three under not having played the course before and also with no caddy.
Former Ryder Cup star and three-time Tour winner Joakim Haeggman teeing off the first at Balcomie Links course. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
“But it is the par threes that will catch you out and that’s where you can make those little mistakes. I hit 5-wood into 13 and 5-wood into the 18th.
“When we teed off the weather was warm and nice and made for some good scoring but as the round progressed the clouds rolled in it got a bit cooler and the course seemed to play a little bit harder.
“So the day was a lot of fun and I can see the Balcomie Links being a great member’s golf course.
“For myself being a Tour player it maybe doesn’t stretch out enough but listening to my seven companions with me this week, and given they are club members back home in Sweden, they really enjoyed the Balcomie because they can get to the holes in regulation and have that chance to make par or the occasional birdie.
“Really, it is their fault I am here this week for two years ago we planned to attend the Ryder Cup and with that in mind they also wanted to combine the trip by playing some golf in Scotland.”
Joakim Haeggman (cap) and his fellow Kulmar Golf Club members gather for a photo in front of the entrance to the Crail Golfing Society clubhouse. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
While some of the group was returning to Sweden, Haeggman and those remaining from the Kulmar Golf Club were heading north to play Cruden Bay and Trump International Golf Links Scotland.
“One of the reasons we wanted to come and play golf here in Scotland is because courses like here at Crail are so different to back home in Sweden,” he said.
“Personally, I never travel to Spain for a golfing holiday because while the weather might be a bit warmer, it’s also the same type of golf we play in Sweden.
“So in coming to Scotland we wanted to play along the coastline, we wanted to play links style courses and our visit to Crail has been everything we wished for.”
