CARIN KOCH

BIO

A product of the early 1990’s golf boom in Sweden, Carin Koch entered the world scene as a heralded amateur and college female player on the LPGA tour. 1995 was Carin’s rookie year on the LPGA Tour and her best finish was a tie for second at the JAL Big Apple Classic. Carin almost broke through for her first victory in 1996 at the Edina Realty Classic, but she lost to countrywoman Liselotte Neumann in a playoff. 2001 saw Carin become an LPGA maiden winner at the LPGA Corning Classic. 

 

Success on the course, combined with her good looks and feminine appeal, propelled Koch to commercial success off the course as well as one of the lead promotional faces of the LPGA Tour.   In 2002 Koch recorded a career-best 13 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up finishes and was a captain's pick for the European Solheim Cup team. In 2003, Koch gave birth to her second child, Simzon Michael but still played well enough to be a captain's pick for the 2003 Solheim Cup won by the Europeans in her native Sweden.  In 2005, she won her second career LPGA event at the Corona Morelia Championship and was again a captain's pick for the 2005 Solheim Cup. She teamed up with fellow Swede and Kaenon player Sophie Gustafson to represent Sweden at the inaugural Women’s World Cup of Golf and was also a member of the International team at the inaugural Lexus Cup. She also played in the 2007 Women’s World Cup of Golf with Helen Alfredsson. 

 

Playing both the US LPGA and European LPGA Tours, and now based full time with her family in Sweden, Koch was introduced to the game of golf at the age of 9 by her father, Owe Hjalmarsson. At 17, she was the Swedish Girl Champion and she played in the Junior and Senior European Amateur Team Championships as a member of the 1985-91 Swedish national amateur team. Koch enrolled at the University of Tulsa and was named Second-Team All-American in 1990 and Scholar All-American in 1991. Between 1987 and 1991 she played eight times on the Swedish Telia Tour as an amateur, never finishing outside the top ten.

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