Aspiring Swedish golfer finds a home in Lakewood Ranch

Golf takes you places.

It’s a common refrain, one that golfers, both professional and amateur, give when asked why they love their sport. How many golfers, though, have taken a leap of faith and moved from Sweden to the United States in pursuit of their golf dreams?

Not many. Only six golfers from Sweden have played in a 2017 Symetra Tour event. Ellinor Haag, from Sigturna, Sweden, is one of them.

Haag had visited friends in Chicago a few times, but didn’t take up residence in the United States until she was 18, and set to attend Western Kentucky University. Her connection with WKU is apparent, as “Big Red,” WKU’s furry, red, amorphous blob of a mascot, covers her driver. The college’s name is etched across her golf bag.

It was at WKU where Haag picked up not just a golf lesson, but a life lesson: How to be happy in defeat.

“I’m very competitive,” Haag said. “I had to learn to be happy for someone else, wanting others to do well.

“There’s still some jealousy (when others win), but I’m handling it way better.”

She’s traveled all over the country for golf, but the 24-year-old now calls Lakewood Ranch her U.S. base. It says so in the information packet she handed me when we met. Other facts the sheet lists: Her dream vacation spot is South Africa, her hobbies include working out and cooking and she has a distaste for going on walks.

When Haag and WKU played in the 2015 Pat Bradley Invitational, hosted by Florida International University at Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, Lakewood Ranch residents John and Marcie Caplan hosted her team. Haag and the Caplans kept in contact after the tournament ended.

“She was really sweet and appreciative,” Marcie Caplan said of Haag’s personality the first time the pair met. “She was the captain of her college team, and I liked how she interacted with her teammates. She really reminded me of myself.”

Haag returned to the area in August 2016 for an LPGA qualifying tournament, and it was a no-brainer where she would stay.

Haag and the Caplans have become so close, the Caplans are flying to Sweden in August to visit Haag’s home country and family. Likewise, Haag now has set up a home base at the Caplans when she isn’t chasing tournaments.

The Caplans don’t plan on letting Haag out of their lives, no matter where her golf career takes her.

“She’s a part of the family,” Marcie Caplan said.

And when she is visiting her second home, she loves her practice options.

Of all the courses she’s played, Haag said Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club’s Cypress Links course is near the top of her list, alongside Oak Quarry Golf Club in Riverside, Calif., and Osteråker Golf Club in Osteråker, Sweden. Yes, golf is popular in Sweden, Haag said, despite having chilly temperatures nine months of the year.

Part of the reason for the Swede’s enthusiasm for the sport is Annika Sorenstam, she of 10 LPGA major wins and the top spot on the all-time LPGA earnings list, with just more than $22 million. Haag was lucky enough to attend one of Sorenstam’s clinics when she was 13. She’ll never forget the experience, even if she has trouble remembering the advice Sorenstam gave her. It was 11 years ago, after all.

Haag is a rookie on the Symetra Tour after having advanced to the second stage of LPGA qualifying tournaments last fall.

She believes she can continue to advance.

Consistency is the key, she said. It’s easier to say than achieve, but Haag knows where she has to improve. She’s a good driver, but she needs to hit more fairways and greens. Putting can be troublesome for Haag like it is for everyone.

It’s not the easy life it seems. In between rounds of golf, Haag hits the lonely road, driving to the next course. Sometimes it’s a 10- to 12-hour trek. She passes the time by listening to soft rock or Swedish podcasts on current events and how to be successful. For her, pursuing the sport is worth the hardships.

“It’s extremely fun,” Haag said. “I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think so.”

Whenever there’s a break in her schedule, she returns to Lakewood Ranch and the Caplans.

In other words, she returns home.