Louise Rydqvist is a Swedish amateur golfer who plays collegiately at the University of South Carolina. She has several wins as an amateur, including the 2024 European Ladies Amateur, and has been ranked as high as ninth on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Get to know Rydqvist better with these 12 facts…
Louise Rydqvist Facts:
1. Rydqvist was born on 18 July 2001 in Varnamo, Sweden.
2. She started playing golf in her teens, having tried “nearly every other sport other than golf until I was around 13”. She told the Gamecocks website in 2023: “Before that, I did figure skating for eight years. I did soccer for seven years. I played tennis, swimming, horse riding, and floor ball. I played my first (golf) tournament when I was 14, and I did my first tournament with the Swedish National Team when I was 15. It kind of took off from there. My handicap started going down, and I saw that I was getting good at it, and then I really started getting competitive.”
3. Like many Swedish golfers, Rydqvist grew up idolizing LPGA Tour legend Annika Sorenstam. “The way Annika has been such a legend for the game of golf and how she has helped grow the game, especially women’s golf, means a lot,” she said.
4. Rydqvist attended Filbornaskolan in Helsinborg, a prestigious Swedish high school that focuses on sport that includes several notable golfers as alumni, including Linn Grant, Maja Stark and Ludvig Aberg.
5. She claimed her first – and only – pro victory as an amateur at the 2020 Johannesberg Ladies Open, with the win helping her finish in a tie for first in the Swedish Golf Tour order of merit.
6. Rydqvist earned an athletic scholarship to the University of South Carolina and joined the Gamecocks women’s golf team in 2021. She is a double major in finance and marketing, and boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA.
7. She finished runner-up at the 2022 Women's Amateur Championship, losing 4&3 in the final to Jess Baker.
8. Rydqvist won her first collegiate event at the 2023 ANNIKA Intercollegiate, which is named after her idol Sorenstam. She said the victory “meant everything” and she even received a congratulatory message from Sorenstam. “Annika has been such a role model for me since I’m also a Swede,” she said. “It’s a very special feeling to be able to walk up to her and just say, hey, how are you doing, in Swedish … She congratulated me and sent me a message on Instagram.”
9. She made her LPGA Tour debut at The ANNIKA in 2023, thanks to her victory at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate earlier in the year. She made the cut and finished in a tie for 46th on four under.
10. Rydqvist won the European Ladies Amateur Championship in 2024, which earned her a spot at the 2024 Women’s British Open. She managed to make the cut in her Major debut at St Andrews, finishing in a tie for 60th on seven over.
11. Her accolades in college include WGCA First-Team All-American, First-Team All-SEC and the Edith Cummings Munson Award, an honor given to the top collegiate golfer who excels in academics. She has ranked as high as ninth on the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
12. She has represented Sweden at the European Girls' Team Championship, Toyota Junior Golf World Cup, World Junior Girls Championship, European Ladies' Team Championship, Espirito Santo Trophy and Arnold Palmer Cup.
Louise Rydqvist Wins
- 2016 Puma/Cobra Junior Masters Invitational
- 2017 Delsjo Junior Open
- 2019 PGA Junior Open by Titleist
- 2020 Johannesberg Ladies Open
- 2023 Annika Intercollegiate
- 2024 European Ladies Amateur Championship
