FSU women's golfers dominate the summer
Several 'Noles succeed in both match play and individual competitions abroad.
FSU women's golfers dominate the summer Several 'Noles succeed in both match play and individual competitions abroad. Check out this story on fsunews.com: https://www.fsunews.com/story/sports/2019/09/08/fsu-womens-golfers-dominate-summer/2256501001/
Jake Mossing, Staff Writer Published 1:04 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2019 | Updated 1:41 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2019
Frida Kinhult (left) currently sits as the no. 3 women's golf amateur in the world. (Photo: Frida Kinhult/Seminoles.com)
For many college students, summer is a time for fun and relaxation, a three-month window where the stresses of performing well in school fade away. However, for several members of the FSU women's golf team, having school off means there is more time to play golf. Although the women's golf season typically finishes towards the middle or end of May, some Florida State players never seem to have an off day.
This summer, Swedish sophomore Frida Kinhult, and Amelia Williamson, who is a sophomore from England, both traveled to a variety of places in the U.S. and abroad to compete in a plethora of tournaments. They came back to Tallahassee this August with more trophies than they had left with.
This past June, Kinhult helped the International Team defeat the United States and win a championship in the Arnold Palmer Cup in Missouri. She also assisted Team Europe in winning the team title in the Vagliano Trophy Championship, a tournament that is held in England. Kinhult and Beatrice Wallen, led Sweden to a title at the 2019 European's Ladies Team Championship for a second consecutive year.
"It's always nice to have won a tournament before, because you kind of know the process and there is not that many new things going on, but you still have to go out there and play good," Kinhult said.
Adding onto the win total for FSU women's golf this summer, Williamson led England to the team title at the R&A Women's Home International Championship. While in England she also helped Team Norfolk win the East Region County Match Week Championship, winning all nine of her matches over five days. Finally, at the Grand Prix de Chiberta in France, Williamson won the tournament by shooting a 65 on the final day.
Amelia Williamson finished her freshman year with a stroke average of 75.08. (Photo: Amelia Williamson/Seminoles.com)
"I've never won a world ranking tournament which has been better ranked than a D or an E, so in terms of my world ranking it was a really big thing for me to win based on the standard that I'm at currently," Williamson said.
With both Kinhult and Williamson proving to be dominant in their tournaments over the summer, it's hard to ignore the skills and experience they bring to the FSU women's golf team from playing internationally. They're not alone, as out of the nine athletes on the women's golf team, five of them are from a country other than the U.S.
"I think it's phenomenal having players from all over the world," head coach Amy Bond said. "They bring their cultures into our program, so we learn about them and they learn about us. I love it, as international players bring that team atmosphere into the game. They push one another each and every day."
The most clear difference between competing in the U.S. and competing internationally is that tournaments in the U.S are more focused on individual play. The player's score at the end of the day often only affects their own standings. For international play, much of the opposite is true, as players from the same nationality usually join together to represent an entire country. Everyone contributes to the overall team's score, forcing the athletes participating to think and act unselfishly.
"Playing internationally, for example playing for Sweden, you're playing for so much more than yourself," Kinhult said.
For international athletes, competing in different countries that each have separate playing formats, rules, and regulations may seem daunting to most. However, Kinhult and Williamson seem to show no sign of slowing down.
"My schedule for next summer will be similar to this summer," Williamson said. "I'm actually going to try and play more tournaments in Europe to play against higher ranked players."
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