Minea "Minni" Blomqvist, (born 12 March 1985 in
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
) is a
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 ...
who played on the U.S.-based
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of wee ...
in the early 2000s. She won twice on the
Ladies European Tour
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...
.
Amateur career
Blomqvist was a member of the Finnish National Ladies Team from 2001 to 2003 and played in the 2002
Espirito Santo Trophy
The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation.
The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...
World Amateur Golf Team Championships
The International Golf Federation (IGF) was founded in 1958 and is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the world governing body for golf. The IGF has two membership categories representing the ...
.
[
] She was a two-time member of the European PING
Junior Solheim Cup
The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and feat ...
Team in 2002 and 2003
[
] winning all her matches in the winning 2003 side
[
] and she represented Europe in the 2003
Vagliano Trophy
The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in od ...
.
She played as an amateur on the
Swedish Golf Tour
The Swedish Golf Tour (currently known as the MoreGolf Mastercard Tour for sponsorship reasons), is a developmental professional golf formerly operated by Svenska Golftourerna AB, owned equally by the Swedish Golf Federation and the PGA of Swede ...
four times in 2000 and 2001 missing the cut each time.
[
][
] In
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 independence from Indonesia and ...
, she played in three Swedish Golf Tour events and recorded two top twenty finishes plus a win at the
Sparbanken Ladies Open.
[
] In
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
, she played in five Swedish Golf Tour tournaments, recorded two runner up finishes plus a win at the CA Ladies Trophy,
[
] and was named Telia Tour Player of the Year.
[
]
Professional career
Blomqvist turned professional late in 2003 and in 2004 claimed her maiden victory in only her second tournament as a professional at the Pam Golding Ladies International on the Nedbank Women's Golf Tour in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
[
] following this up with a win in the Telkom Women's Classic a week later.
[
] These results meant she finished top of the Nedbank Women's Golf Tour Order of Merit for 2004.
[
]
Having finished 36th at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in 2003,
Blomqvist had conditional status for 2004 when making her
Ladies European Tour
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...
debut in Tenerife where she finished fourth.
[
] She won her maiden LET tournament later in the year in Hungary
[
] and gained her first top ten finish in a major at the
Women's British Open
The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour ...
during which she shot a record low score of 62.
[
] She had five other top twenty LET finishes in 2004 together with another win at the
Öijared Ladies Open on the Telia Tour
[
] and was the
LET Rookie of the Year
The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...
.
[
]
At the start of 2005 she teamed with Riikka Hakkarainen to represent Finland at the inaugural
Women's World Cup of Golf
The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...
.
[
] On the Ladies European Tour she posted 11 top-20 finishes, including back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Ladies English Open
[
] and the OTP Bank Ladies Central European Open
[
] and earned non-exempt status for the 2006 LPGA Tour season by tying for 34th at the
LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of th ...
.
[
]
At the start of 2006 she again teamed with
Riikka Hakkarainen to represent Finland at the
Women's World Cup of Golf
The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in two incarnations, first in 2000 at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co ...
.
[
] She concentrated on playing on the LPGA tour in 2006 ending the season with a best finish of 24th and 102nd on the money list.
In 2008 Blomqvist added another success to her résumé. By winning the
Finnair Masters she became the first Finn to triumph in that event.
[
]
Another notable achievement was finishing tied as a runner-up at the rain-shortened
Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika
The Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika was a women's professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour held in Sweden.
The tournament was played annually 1996–2008 and starting 2005 with Annika Sörenstam as the hostess. It was known as ...
, where she played her last round in 63 strokes.
[
]
On
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of wee ...
her best finish was 3rd place at the
Safeway International
Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, de ...
.
[
]
Personal
Blomqvist gave birth to her son Elmo 31 March 2010. The father is
Roope Kakko
Roope Kakko (born 13 February 1982) is a Finnish professional golfer.
Kakko was born in Espoo, Finland. He started playing golf at the age of five.
In 2004, Kakko became only the third amateur to win a tournament on the Challenge Tour, when he ...
, which she married on New Year's Eve 2011.
[
]
Professional wins (7)
Ladies European Tour (2)
Swedish Golf Tour (3)
^ Shortened to 36 holes due to weather
South Africa Women's Golf Tour (2)
*2004 Pam Golding Ladies International, Telkom Women's Classic
Team appearances
Amateur
*
Espirito Santo Trophy
The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation.
The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...
(representing Finland):
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 independence from Indonesia and ...
*
European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959.
It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pl ...
(representing Finland):
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
*
Junior Solheim Cup
The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and feat ...
(representing Europe): 2002, 2003 (winners)
Professional
*
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
(representing Finland): 2005, 2006
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blomqvist, Minea
Finnish female golfers
Ladies European Tour golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
Sportspeople from Espoo
1985 births
Living people