Elis Svärd (8 July 1996 – 28 January 2022) was a Swedish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life and amateur career

Svärd was born in

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

in 1996 and represented Salem Golf Club. He had success as a junior golfer and won a handful of titles on the Skandia Tour. After he graduated from the Riksidrottsgymnasiet Golf Program at Celsius High School in Uppsala in 2016, Svärd played college golf at

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

between 2016 and 2020. He won four tournaments and was

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

Rookie of the Year in 2017 and Golfer of the Year in 2018 and 2019. He graduated in May 2020 with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in Accounting. Svärd arguably was the greatest golfer in CSUMB history, earning

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n honors his sophomore through senior seasons while finishing his

Otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

career with the most

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

tournament wins (4) and lowest stroke average (71.19) in school history. He finished No. 9 overall in Golfstat individual rankings for 2019–20. Between 2020 and 2021 Svärd was a graduate student at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, earning both his MBA and OSU Scholar-Athlete honors. In joining the Ohio State Buckeyes men's golf team, he followed in the footsteps of Tom Nieporte, Robert Jones and

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. Svärd was a first team All-American and one of five finalists for the GCAA DII Jack Nicklaus Award.

Professional career

Svärd turned professional in the summer of 2021 and joined the

Nordic Golf League The Nordic Golf League is one of the third-tier men's professional golf tours, recognised by the European Tour, also known as the Satellite Tours. The top five players on the Order of Merit at the end of each season earn status to play on the seco ...

, where he won the 2021 Thisted Forsikring Championship in Ålborg, Denmark. Svärd was four strokes behind Peter Launer Bæk at the turn, but was able to win due to a strong finish. The title race came down to the very last hole where Svärd made an 8-meter putt for birdie and Bæk a bogey after visiting a hazard. Following the win Svärd rose to 860th in 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 "rolling ...

Death

Svärd died on 28 January 2022, with his death being announced by the Swedish Golf Federation. He was 25, and died from a sudden and unexpected case of illness.

Amateur wins

*2011 Skandia Tour Regional #5 – Stockholm *2012 Skandia Tour Regional #3 – Stockholm Södra *2014 Gräppås Junior Open *2015 Drottningholms 36:an *2016 Salem PING Junior Open, Skandia Tour Elit #2 *2017 CSUSM Fujikura Invitational *2018 CSUSM Fujikura Invitational, CCAA Championship *2019 Dennis Rose Invitational *2020 Stockholm Golf Club Amateur Open, HNS Amateur Open Sources:

Professional wins (1)

Nordic Golf League wins (1)

Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Svard, Elis Swedish male golfers Cal State Monterey Bay Otters men's golfers Ohio State Buckeyes men's golfers Sportspeople from Södertälje Golfers from Uppsala 1996 births 2022 deaths 21st-century Swedish sportsmen