Drama Punctuates 2025 World Adventure Golf Masters

Askim, Sweden - Fans of adventure golf around the world witnessed three days of intense action at the 2025 World Adventure Golf Masters on June 13-15.  Over 100 of the best adventure golfers from 14 countries came to Sweden to battle for medals in teams, mixed pairs and 7 individual categories. Within those groups, 7 categories needed sudden death playoffs to determine at least one of the medal spots. The annual event came to Askims BGK this year, the first time in Sweden since 2019. As with most years, it was expected that the home nation would be favored in most of the categories but there were major adventure golf tournament winners from around the globe ready to challenge that expectation.

The tournament starts with 6 rounds of stroke play over two days that culminates in the crowing of the team champion and determines which mixed pairs will make the mixed pairs final on day three.  There were 19 national teams trying to secure a medal and all eyes were on which of the 3 Swedish teams would be on the podium, or if it would be all three.  After day one the Sweden 3 team, which was comprised of youth players, seemed to be the likely candidate but some of the more experienced players from the host country had something to say about that. Sweden 1 (Erik Hjalmarsson, Mattias Hägglöf, Kevin Sundström, Jesper Lindberg) came out hot on day two and posted a combined score of 98, the only round in the tournament where a team broke 100. This was punctuated by Hjarlmarsson's 22 which he would then top by tying the course competitive round record of a 21 in the sixth round of the tournament. With an average of 26.0, Sweden 1 took the gold by 9 strokes over Finland 1 (Marko Nuotio, Pekka Mäntylä, Mia Vuorihovi, Oliver Mäntyl) who kept it from being a Swedish podium sweep.  Sweden 2 (Ricard Lockner, Morgan Munther. Robert Gustavsson, Gunnar Bengtsson) would take bronze.

Day three begins the train of medals as the individual categories wrap up their tournaments with a seventh round of play.  This round also determines the top 18 players who make the super-final to determine the overall tournament individual champion.  It was the United States who would spoil the Swedish party first that morning, with Vanette Block hanging onto a 1 stroke lead to take gold in the Female Seniors category.  It was her second WAGM gold, repeating her 2018 success, and although she had a flawless round of 28 to finish, there were hard chargers behind her. Jessica Rosén (Sweden) posted a 24 in the final round, which was the low round of the tournament for that category.  It didn't catch her up to Block but did force a playoff with Sandra Walker (Finland), with them both coming in at 204. Rosén would take no time in the playoff, securing an ace on the first hole to win the silver.

There were more playoffs in the Male Seniors category, this time to determine gold. Jens Bergström (Sweden, playing for Askims BKG) and Tom Ahlberg (Finland) averaged 25.4 over the 7 rounds of play to tie and force the playoff. They just slipped by Marko Nuotio (Finland) by one stroke to avoid a three-way playoff. All three competitors would score a 25 in the final round to keep the drama high. The sudden death would last slightly longer than in the Female Senior category as Jens took the gold with an ace on hole 2.

The Female Youth division was the only category where it was guaranteed that there would be a Swedish gold with a line-up only of Swedish players. However that didn't stop the competition from putting up excellent scores and pushing the gold medal to a playoff.  Rebecka Johansson and Isabell Möller battled to a tie with a 26.9 average over the 7 rounds and clear countrywoman Amanda Eriksson by 7 strokes. It took the pair four extra holes to decide a winner and Johansson came out on top acing all four playoff holes.

The Male Youth division had a more diverse set of players fighting for the top spot and in the end only 3 strokes separated first from fourth. After taking an early lead on the first day, Chase Ferguson (United States) who had never been on a plane or out of the country before this tournament, forced a playoff with Carl Elfström (Sweden) for the silver. Like the Female Youth division, aces were the name of the playoff as Elfström made four in a row to take silver.  Oliver Mäntylä, who already had won silver in the team competition, added to his medal count with a gold with an average of 26.6 over the 7 rounds.

The General Class Women kept up the theme of playoffs as Jenny Erlandsson (Sweden, playing for Askims BKG) made up 4 strokes in the final round to tie Wilma Harrysson (Sweden) with an average of 27.4 over the 7 rounds. Their playoff would go only one lane with Erlandsson making the ace to secure gold.  Stefanie Emich (Austria) slipped into the bronze position.

General Class Men was the only division that didn't have at least one playoff, though Austria countrymen Mathias Jagschitz and Patrick Riener did their best to force one as they battled for silver. They were nearly equal the whole tournament with the lead passing back and forth, but in the end Jagschitz would prevail by one stroke over Riener, in part thanks to his perfect 7-for-7 aces of lane 17, which helped him grab the silver.  Riener just edged Lars Anderegg (Switzerland) for the bronze.  The story of the division though was Erik Hjalmarsson (Sweden). After an average first day, Hjalmarsson finished with a 22, 24, 21, 23 in the final four rounds to break away from the pack and secure gold by nine strokes, which was an amazing feat given the field.

With the individual divisions awarded, it was time to turn to who would take the overall championship title. Twenty players would end up making the cut based on scores and ties, and who was in or out was determined by just one stroke after 126 holes of play.  Hjalmarsson let off the gas only a little in the final round, scoring a 27 but still winning by 7 strokes over the field.  However this time Jagschitz and Riener would need a playoff to determine the silver, with Jagschitz emerging victorious.

The competition was far from over, though, as the mixed pairs had their final two rounds to play. There were 15 teams from 6 countries battling to be in the top 10 for the final with again a mere stroke separating who was in or out.  For the final, all scores are reset and the teams play two rounds of alternate-start, alternate-shot competition, which is a format that since its WAGM introduction in 2019 has always provided high levels of drama.  With four teams who qualified for the final, the question was if Sweden could produce a sweep of the medals. Despite solid efforts by all four teams in the first round, including two teams where both members already had medals, it was a team from Austria who grabbed the gold from the home teams. Angelika Heyl & Christian Gobetz complimented each other's game perfectly during the two rounds resulting in them being the only team to break 50 thanks to Gobetz final hole ace which pushed them one stroke clear into the gold. It might be no surprise then that silver came down to a playoff between the two Swedish teams of Wilma Harrysson & Erik Hjalmarsson and Rebecka Johansson & Carl Elfström.  They would settle it on the first hole with Harrysson & Hjalmarsson taking the second spot. That would give Hjarlmarsson a tournament leading 3 golds and 1 silver for the weekend.