Toni Karjalainen (born 9 July 1979) is a Finnish professional golfer who formerly played on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. He was his country's highest ranked male golfer and one of only a few Finnish golfers playing on the leading professional tours when he won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2005 and 2006.

Amateur career

As an amateur, Karjalainen represented his country at the European Youths' Team Championship, the European Amateur Team Championship and twice at the Eisenhower Trophy. At the

2001 European Amateur Team Championship The 2001 European Amateur Team Championship took place 3–7 July at Ljunghusen Golf Club in Höllviken, Sweden. It was the 22nd men's golf European Amateur Team Championship. Venue The club was founded in 1932 and by 1965 it was the first go ...

Ljunghusen Golf Club Ljunghusen Golf Club is a links golf club located in Höllviken, Skåne County in Sweden. It has hosted the PLM Open on the European Tour. History The club is located on Sweden's southern tip, along the Baltic Sea. Its first six holes were buil ...

in Sweden, team Finland finished a historical high forth (behind England, Ireland and Sweden) in the qualifying stroke-play competition and lost to champions to be Scotland in the quarter-finals. In June 2002, still an amateur, Karjalainen won the Messilä Trophy in Finland on the Nordic Golf League.

Professional career

Karjalainen earned his playing rights on the 2004 Nordic Golf League by finished second at the qualifying school at Eslöv Golf Club in Sweden at the end of 2003. Karjalainen won the 2005

Thomas Bjørn Open The Thomas Bjørn Open was a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour in 2005 and 2006. It was sponsored by Denmark's leading European Tour player, and former Challenge Tour Rankings winner, Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a p ...

in Denmark in his first season on the Challenge Tour, the European Tour's official developmental tour, on his way to finish 20th on the Order of Merit, the last place to earn full membership, with limited privileges, on the European Tour for 2006. He followed that up in 2006 by winning again on the Challenge Tour, the Telenet Trophy at the Limburg Golf and Country Club in Belgium in a last round interrupted by thunderstorms. He also made several appearances on the main European Tour in 2006, making five cuts. His best finish on the European Tour was tied 20th at the 2006 BA-CA Golf Open in Vienna, Austria. In July 2006 he reached a career best 282nd on the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

, and was at the time Finland's highest ranked player. Having lost his playing privileges in Europe at the end of the 2008 season, Karjalainen joined the Asian Tour in 2009 after coming through qualifying school.

Professional wins (6)

Challenge Tour wins (2)

Nordic Golf League wins (3)

Finnish Tour wins (1)

Team appearances

Amateur * European Youths' Team Championship (representing Finland): 1998, 2000 * Eisenhower Trophy (representing Finland):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

* European Amateur Team Championship (representing Finland):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karjalainen, Toni Finnish male golfers European Tour golfers Asian Tour golfers Sportspeople from Lappeenranta 1979 births Living people 21st-century Finnish people