Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen (born 5 May 1999) is a Danish professional golfer and

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

. In 2023, she won three times on the

LET Access Series The LET Access Series (LETAS) is a professional golf tour for women and the official development tour to the Ladies European Tour. Launched in 2010, the LET Access Series provides players with an opportunity to compete and progress on to the Ladi ...

and secured the Order of Merit title. As an amateur, she won the

European Nations Cup – Copa Sotogrande The European Nations Cup – Copa Sotogrande is an annual amateur golf tournament held at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Spain. The tournament is a stroke play event held over 72 holes. In 1970, Brandy de Jerez Regulatory Council started to spon ...

and played in the final of the 2022

NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, played in the month of May, is the annual competition in women's collegiate golf for individuals and teams from universities in Division I. Golf was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA cha ...

Amateur career

Nielsen had a successful amateur career and represented the Danish National Team in European and World Championships between 2016 and 2022. Her

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 ...

team finished 5th, 3rd, 8th, 3rd, 5th and 5th, to cement the competitiveness and consistency of the Danish side. Individually, Nielsen won the 2016

German Girls Open The German Boys & Girls Open, formally the German International Amateur Championship – Boys and Girls, is an annual international amateur golf tournament in Germany for boys and girls under the age of 18. The tournament, founded in 2004, is org ...

and the 2018

, in addition to winning the Danish International Amateur Championship in 2017 and the Danish National Stroke Play Championship in 2018 and 2020. Nielsen enrolled at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 2019 and played with the Oregon Ducks women's golf team until 2022. As a freshman, she was an

All-American 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 ...

and posted the second best scoring average in school history. As a sophomore, she was a key contributor in Oregon's first ever

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Championship win. In her junior year, Nielsen gained national attention after she led Oregon all the way to the final of the 2022

at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she went head-to-head with

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

Rose Zhang Rose Zhang ( born May 24, 2003) is an American professional golfer. She won the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur, and both the 2022 and NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships, 2023 NCAA Division I Championships, becoming the first woman to win the i ...

, the world number one ranked amateur in the final. The match was all tied at 2–2 and Zhang held a 2-up lead with two holes to play when suddenly the officials gave Nielsen a one-stroke penalty, claiming her push cart had touched Zhang's ball in the rough. This obscure match-play-only rule was added to the ''Rules of Golf'' in 2019, gave Nielsen a one-stroke penalty, and effectively awarded Zhang and the Cardinal the NCAA Championship victory.

Professional career

Nielsen turned professional after the

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 Fren ...

in September 2022 instead of going back to school. She played a few events in the

, where she was runner-up at the 2022

Calatayud Ladies Open The Calatayud Ladies Open is a women's professional golf tournament on the LET Access Series, held in Calatayud, Province of Zaragoza, Spain. The LETAS tournament in Spain moved to Calatayud in 2022 after being held in Murcia in 2010 and 2011, an ...

. In 2023, she joined the

where she was runner-up at the Santander Golf Tour Girona and Flumserberg Ladies Open, before winning the

Montauban Ladies Open The Montauban Ladies Open is a women's professional golf tournament played as part of the LET Access Series, held since 2019 at Golf de Montauban L'Estang in Montauban, France. History In 2021, French amateur Marine Griffaut, a member of Texas S ...

in France and the

Capio Ögon Trophy The Capio Ögon Trophy is a women's professional golf tournament on the Swedish Golf Tour, first played in 1996. It became a LET Access Series event in 2020. It is always held in Uppsala, Sweden. Played at Upsala Golf Club, the club had previous ...

in Sweden She earned

membership for 2024 after her third win of the season at the Lombardia Ladies Open in Italy. She comfortably secured both the LETAS Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year titles.

Amateur wins

*2016

*2017 Cobra-Puma Skanderborg Bilcentrum Open, Danish International Amateur Championship *2018

, Danish National Stroke Play Championship *2019 DGU Elite Tour III *2020 Danish National Stroke Play Championship *2021 Holstebro Open Championship Sources:

Professional wins (3)

LET Access Series (3)

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Girls' Team Championship The European Girls' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women up to 18 organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1991. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1991 to 1999 and has bee ...

(representing Denmark): 2016 *

World Junior Girls Championship The World Junior Girls Golf Championship () is an annual world amateur team golf championship for women under 18 organized in Canada. History The inaugural event was held in 2014. Medalists who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Brooke ...

(representing Denmark): 2017 *

(representing Denmark):

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

(representing Denmark):

Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Sofie Kibsgaard Danish female golfers Ladies European Tour golfers Oregon Ducks women's golfers Sportspeople from Thisted 1999 births Living people 21st-century Danish sportswomen