| Sweden: the heart of minigolf |
| The talent which makes up the Swedish National Team leads us to Jonas Gustafsson, 24 years old. Gustafsson's determination and passion for the sport is his driving force for not returning home after the upcoming international competitions empty handed. His talent and dedication have already brought him this far, now his goal is to take it to the next level |
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(04/02/07)
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Continuing our virtual tour of some of the world’s top minigolf players, the next competitor we will be meeting in the upcoming world competitions is Jonas Gustafsson, hailing from the city of Jönköping in Sweden. Class of 1983, Gustafsson has been enjoying minigolf on a professional level since 2000. Introduced to minigolf by a friend, Gustafsson describes his passion for the sport so immediate it was like being hit by a lighting bolt, «once I tested it –confides the Swede- I couldn’t stop playing». Once bitten by the minigolf bug this young man quickly made a niche for himself in the competitive world of minigolf. He joined the Swedish National Team in 2002 and this same year saw him and his team-mates taking the gold at the Youth World Championships.
Gustafsson and his team-mates also went on to win first place at the 2004 and 2006 European Championships. His victories in the youth categories transferred to his career on the men’s team of the Swedish team as well, winning the highest position on the podium at the 2003 World Championships in Bad Munder Germany, while in 2006 Gustafsson placing a neat fifth in the individual category of the European Championships.
A salesman by profession, Gustafsson particularly enjoys minigolf because it gives him «the opportunity to compete at a high level while meeting a lot of people –explains Jonas- while being able travel all around my country and the rest of Europe». Throughout his career Gustafsson has achieved some very impressive results
indeed. In miniature golf he has scored a perfect round, a clean 18 aces, and has a career average of 19,5 in this discipline of the sport. While his top round in minigolf was 23 with an average of 25,5 and indoor feltgolf he completed in 20 strokes with an average of 24,5. His results show that Gustafsson is passionate about minigolf and moreover he plays to win, in his own words, «the most important aspect about minigolf is to have fun, but you can only have fun when you win». It still remains to be seen in what position Gustafsson will place in the world competitions later this year, but with his win-win attitude he will surely try his best to find a position on the winners’ podium at the courses of Relax Time in Canegrate this summer.
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