Bergsdottir Puts Classes on Hold For World Lessons
Senior honored to represent Iceland on international stage
Mike Brohard
Missing the first week of classes probably isn’t ideal, or the first week of practice with your team.
There are, however, exceptions for everything, and Andrea Bergsdottir had the mother of all hall passes.
She was busy representing Iceland in the Espirito Santo World Amateur Team Championship in Paris, France. Permission granted. Immediately.
While the rest of her Colorado State women’s golf teammates were moving back into their apartments, Bergsdottir was teeing off against the best field of women amateurs the globe can produce, representing 56 countries in all. Technically, she was born and raised in Sweden, but she had dual citizenship thanks to both of her parents. Throughout her junior career, she has spent summers representing Iceland in smaller tournaments, but this was the invitation she always wanted.
“It was really exciting. I was hoping for it the whole summer, and I talked to Coach (Laura Cilek) before I left in the spring and said it’s the World team and I hope I finally get picked, and I hoped that was fine with school. It was a big honor. I was really excited.
“I was actually in a tournament in Sweden, playing for my home club. We had the Swedish National Team championship, and my coach called me after our first practice round and told me I got selected.”
So, the first week of school, she was splitting her time in Paris at two courses, the Le Golf National and Albatros Course & Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Breteche, playing practice rounds for the lead in to the four-day event which ran Aug. 24-27. The first and last day were played at Le Golf National, which has hosted the Ryder Cup.
Pristine. Perfect. Amazing. Pick an adjective of awe and astonishment and Bergsdottir will agree, that was her experience at the tournament.
“Of course, just the tournament itself. Playing amazing courses and with amazing players,” Bergsdottir said. “It was everything around it, how the staff was. They scored every hole, there were caddies on every hole, food. Everything around it was just so professional.”
In four rounds, she finished at a 307, playing steady each round but finishing with her best card of 75 as Iceland finished in the lower half of the field. She played with three players she has grown up with on the junior circuit, enjoying every minute of every day.
Especially the competition. It was the best field she’s ever seen.
“It was the world’s best amateurs, so it was tough competition. I was pretty nervous even before I traveled there,” said the senior. “I knew there were going to be a lot of players I look up to, so I was pretty nervous pretty much the first nine holes I played, especially the first tee shot. After that, I just kind of let go and started to play my own golf. Our coach came to me and talked to me a lot, so that helped. Being with a team where you’re representing your country, and everyone was there supporting the three of us, so that helped a lot, as well.”
Mostly I would say I developed my confidence. I of course have stuff to work on to beat them, but I also see that it’s not that far away.Andrea Bergsdottir
Sure, Cilek would have loved to have one of her team leaders on campus with a new season unfolding, one which is set to begin Sunday at the Badger Invitational in Madison, Wisc. There are no new additions to a team which was young and growing the past two years, and Bergsdottir’s role is important.
Her being gone was not only fine, it was great. The benefits to the player and the team will far outweigh any input or impact Bergsdottir would have had in Fort Collins. It was a win-win for everybody, as Cilek knew.
“Tournament experience is something we try to create in practice, but there’s nothing like it. For her to be able to play in those competitive evens – those are the best amateurs in the world playing in that event – really gets her ready to come in here and switching into gear for Wisconsin, she’s been in tournament mode the past month. That’s great.
“The better competition you can get yourself into the better you’re going to be prepared. I think she probably has some things she learned form that event she’ll work on here and that’s how you get better. You play those big events, learn from it and go to the next one and get to see two or three things. Just to be in the field with those players is huge. That field, a lot of them you’re going to see at the national championship at the end of the year. To represent your country and compete as a team are all things you’re getting ready to do when you come and represent Colorado State.”
Bergsdottir is not only coming off the best season of her career at Colorado State, but one of the best in program history. She averaged 74.2 strokes per round last season, the fourth-best single-season average, and it lowered her career average to 75.43, which also ranks fourth for a career at CSU.
In addition, teammate Sofia Torres had the seventh-best scoring average in program history last year, giving the Rams some depth. And while she’s never played in such a large field, Torres, a native of Columbia, has played in some large international events, and she said Cilek is right, that a player only comes away better from the experience.
“I was able to play against some of the best players in South America and Central America in tournaments, and they are awesome. I grew up a lot,” Torres said. “It was nice for my game, and it was far from home, so you’re in a different culture and weather.
“I was able to compete in the offseason. I came here and would practice alone and try to push myself a little bit more. It helped me get better before the season, which was nice. I was not a very strong player, like my ball would not go far. I got stronger, worked with my coach and the plan was to play in all the tournaments in the spring, and I made it.”
Cilek likes where Bergsdottir’s game is at a physical level, and always has. Her swing is very good, and she displays a pretty good IQ when it comes to management. But sometimes, the athletic abilities can get in the way of the mental approach.
Bergsdottir wouldn’t argue that at all, and what she came away with from the World tournament was a different mindset.
“Mostly I would say I developed my confidence. I of course have stuff to work on to beat them, but I also see that it’s not that far away,” she said. “I just built up some confidence. I also went out and watched them play for three, four holes and I saw that you can’t afford to make small mistakes. You always have to be consistent. I just developed a lot of the mentality.
“The mental part of my golf game has been a huge part for me the last two or three years. When I go out and just play my golf, I play my best golf.”
Her intention this season is to let her game speak loudly, because she’s definitely not going to vocally.
That’s not her personality. If she says three words at one practice, Cilek considers it a normal day. If she says 10, that’s Bergsdottir really opening up.
“The first time I talked to her was probably two months after I came her as a freshman,” Torres said. “I’d see her in practice every day, but the first time we actually talked was two months later. We played together in a practice round in Las Vegas, and we shared the same cart. She asked questions about Columbia, and I asked questions about Sweden and Iceland, so it was very nice.”
The fact is, Bergsdottir isn’t the only quiet one on the team. There aren’t many chatterboxes on the squad, and the few who will speak up, Bergsdottir is more than happy to let a Gabby Minier speak her peace for the team at practice or after a round.
But Bergsdottir is a leader – in her own, comfortable way – and the team knows it. And how to use her knowledge.
“She’s always friendly with us. She’s a little quiet, but she’s always there for you,” Torres said. “She’s a leader behind the scenes. I can trust her with anything, and she’s a good bridge between the coaches and players.”
Bergsdottir is not comfortable being the center of attention, and she feels speaking in front of the team puts her there. Back home, her closest friends have told her it takes at least a half a year – maybe longer – to really get to know her.
But the one place Colorado State really needs her out front – and the one place she doesn’t mind – is on her scorecard. They’ll take a low word count every day it comes with a low score. So will she, and her opportunity this summer is one she feels will lead to more this fall representing Colorado State. And the changes she’s made are already starting to take shape.
“I think I have high expectations for the whole year, but I think that’s good. It makes me excited to work hard, and then when the competition comes, I will try to find a way to go out there and not put pressure on myself but just play and then it goes,” she said. “I think I’m practicing in a more efficient way. Not only just hitting balls or putting on the green, I’m actually doing some goal-focused drills, things that can happen on the course. I always feel like I’m on the course, and that’s helped me these past few weeks.”
If you’re going to show up late to the party, you might as well plan on making a grand entrance.