“So much of what you do is preparing for one moment,” she said. Perhaps a team golf victory would recapture that championship feeling. “I can do stuff when I’m in Sweden, but nothing here, nothing in San Jose.”Īrwefjäll said she believes the nature of rope skipping and golf are uniquely similar as isolated, individual sports that unite in a team environment. She’s had to turn down deals during her collegiate career. I was 11 when I got my 36 handicap and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I can play.’ ”Īn international business major at SJSU, she plans on going pro in the LPGA, where she’ll finally be able to capitalize on her growing marketability.Īs an international student, Arwefjäll is excluded from earning name-image-likeness money while on U.S. “When I was little (on the golf course) I would just pick flowers,” she said. Especially not good enough to be seriously thinking about a national title. At least not good enough to play in Division I. She spent her childhood skating while her brother Kasper played hockey - Arwefjäll’s favorite sport to watch - and succeeding at rope skipping, but golf took a back seat.Ī post shared by KAJSA ARWEFJÄLL with her dad’s guidance, it wasn’t something she thought she’d be good at. We’ve had players that have worked hard and we’ve had players that are strong, but she really has this amazing golf IQ and knowledge and a lot of that comes from her background.”Īrwefjäll continued rope skipping - “Yes, it’s just like ‘Jump In’ ” she says, comparing her sport to the 2007 Disney Channel original movie - until she was 17, when she had to turn her focus to golf full time, which she never actually expected. She has the highest golf IQ of almost any player that we’ve had. “She’s an amazing ball striker,” Dormann said. In turn, Arwefjäll’s background fascinated the Spartans coach. The Spartans fell to Oregon in the quarterfinals last season but defeated eventual national champion Stanford prior to the tournament and had taken the conference championship by opening a 30-stroke lead.Īrwefjäll knew the program’s legacy when reaching out to SJSU, and she was lured by the recently developed on-campus golf facility and the potential of playing for Dormann. Since then, SJSU finished runner-up three consecutive years from 1995-97, then struggled to eclipse an elite field that had caught up. SJSU owns three national titles, the most recent in 1992 when Dormann was en route to her LPGA career as a member of the Spartans. The Spartans lost senior Natasha Andrea Oon to the LPGA this season but have managed to hang on to a top-10 ranking for much of the season. She was first-team All-Mountain West the past two seasons and competed as part of the Swedish team at the 2018 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup where it tied for third with Canada.Īs a sophomore, she was an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships where she tied for 36th. She owns 15 top-10 finishes, with victories at the USF Intercollegiate and Golf Uppsala Open in Sweden. ![]() ![]() She’s been such an amazing part of how our program has really improved.”Īrwefjäll ranks 43rd among international amateur golfers and peaked at 35th. “She just kind of did some things that really caught my eye. “Her recruiting video was just a little bit different from the typical video,” Dormann said. She knows she has something special in Arwefjäll. Spartans head coach Dana Dormann welcomes it. Her teammates screamed, jumping from their spot by the stage.Īrwefjäll uploads videos of her shots to an app she describes as “golf Instagram” and Niclas gives her advice. That left Arwefjäll’s team as the world champions. The public address announcer had just declared the second-place finisher at the 2014 junior world rope-skipping championships, and it wasn’t Sweden. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less San Jose State University senior Kajsa Arwefjäll uses a range finder as she practices at Los Altos Country Club on Thursday. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 4 of4 Kajsa Arwefjäll, San Jose State University senior, talks with teammates during practice at Los Altos Country Club on Thursday. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of4 San Jose State head coach Dana Dormann (left), sophomore Lucia Lopez Ortega and senior Kajsa Arwefjäll head into NCAA Regional play as the nation’s ninth-ranked team. ![]() Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of4 Kajsa Arwefjäll, a San Jose State University senior, hits the ball out of a bunker during practice at Los Altos Country Club on Thursday.
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