Swedish golfer Gustav Stigsson-Andersson, 18, says: “I think golf is the best thing ever, mostly mentally as it is so much fun. I strive to be a role model for golfers, not only for golfers with disability but also juniors at my club.”
Gustav had followed his Dad to the golf range aged 13, thinking it might be fun. “I had my left arm amputated below my elbow. I usually describe it as: ‘I don’t have a left hand’,” he explains to youngsters at Karlstad GC.
With a handicap near scratch and impressing at the EGA European Championship 2023, he was chosen for the Sweden team, inspired by teammates, G4D Tour winners Rasmus Lia and Johan Kammerstad. Of the G4D Tour he says: “It would mean the world to me, competing against the game’s best players.”
Discover more about Gustav’s remarkable rise in golf here with EDGA.
In this first edar podcast of 2024 we meet young Swedish golfer Gustav stigson Anderson he has only played for six years but has a handicap of around scratch he’s in his national team and plays with a smile on his face and a spring in his youthful step so let’s see what makes him
[Applause] Tick at Villa sa in Portugal on the practice range in the late November Sunshine 18-year-old Gustav stigson Anderson is hitting mid iron shots alongside fellow members of the Swedish team in preparation for the Edgar algar open Gustav is the youngest member of the national team present only taking up
Golf six years ago Gustav’s iron shots are highly impressive he plays off a golf handicap of plus 1.5 impressive both in the visual result we watch each ball climb high into the bright blue sky while it is similarly satisfying to listen to the crisp click of each contact those who know Gustav
Point to a startling rate of improvement in the last year or so yet Gustav is not openly obsessional about what he is doing wrapped up in a bubble in which some youngsters find themselves he appears to have a good awareness for what is going on around him presently a
Student of architecture High School designing buildings that are kinder to the environment he seems to read people well too and thus his confidence as a Young Man may stem from Good Foundations rather than the bravado of Youth one of the first things he tells me in fact is that he likes to encourage
Other young players at his local golf club Kad near to his home to the south of Sweden in an email he writes I think golf is the best thing ever mostly mentally as it it is so much fun I strive to be a role model for golfers
Not only for golfers with disability but also Juniors at my club when Gustav was born the blood didn’t flow to his left arm properly and a surgeon needed to amputate his condition he explains to others with a hint of a Ry smile starting on an otherwise straight face I
Don’t have a left hand he says which sums it up Gustav’s dad Nicholas started playing golf 10 years ago in self and his son followed him to the golf range one day when he was aged 13 thinking it might be fun the big breakthrough started to happen more recently about
Maybe 3 years ago my handicap maybe dropped from like 25 to 10 in one season so and then I went to play some normal Junior competitions and then my coach and the other coach at the club told me about these events and also in Sweden
That’s how I got my eyes open for the disabled tour mainly my father played started playing maybe 10 years ago and he really picked up an interest for the sport and I followed him to range once there was people a few who said it would
Be difficult for me and then I had my father’s friend told me of course you can do it and helped me with some technique and then I just tried with my normal like floor ball I had a almost like a normal club and then tape on the
Top just to get the arm stuck and then swing normal his father’s friend perhaps saved Gustav from some negative opinions at a crucial time it’s like inspired me to really try and prove them wrong the Swedish group of players at Villa Soul are in very good spirits and the
Sunshine is clearly a factor in this Gustav’s carlstad course is closed from late October until early May offering in these winter months some excellent indoor facilities thank heavans for trackman and indoor golf the players say while Gustav’s home Club coach Oscar Herzberg becomes a valuable Ally over
The winter period to help with technique and training ideas Gustav will get to enjoy one more Edgar tournament in Portugal in January and also an exciting training and educational bonus which we are Keen to talk to him about after learning more about how he found golf in
The first place Gustav will tell you he grew up happily in a close family of his parents dad Nicholas and M Veronica and his older sister Alicia he made friends at school and enjoyed discovering sport taking up floorball and hockey including the ice hockey game Bandy using a
Prosthetic and later finding that the movement of the shot in Bandy was not too dissimilar from striking a golf ball he never minded the questions about his arm that other children would inevitably ask today he smiles when he admits he does enjoy beating his old friends at
Golf his one arm winning the day over there too meanwhile the more he worked at his golf the more he enjoyed it and the better he became a neat equation that many of the best players tend to share this writer first encountered Gustav in a video clip online from the
G4d open in May 2023 Gustav hitting a superb shot into a green at Wen on the rna’s social media feed looking back he says he felt privileged to play in the first ever g4d open but it reinforced that he had plenty to learn as a competitive player it has been a lot of
Learning because this is my first year with international events so I think I didn’t play my best at wuber but uh a lot of experience 3day event and a lot of big players and such so it was very good for the future I think prepare me
For the upcoming events and I’m in the Swedish golf team now so that’s a lot of sparring so a lot of good players like Rasmus I can look up to Rasmus and Johan CAD who we also met on the team are both winners on the g4d tour while at Villa
Sa he enjoyed a practice round with another fine Swedish player Marcus Marlo who is a fellow one-armed golfer with a great track record in the game after Wen Gustav appeared in the EG’s European individual Championship where he earned a top 20 place at the challenging Golf Course the Dutch in the Netherlands
Confidence was growing but this has also been help by his choice of equipment including custom fitted clubs by titlist and also a new prosthetic arm at wurn he was using a prosthetic which was handmade and multi-purpose having a strong firmness which was good for hockey while his new one allows more
Flexibility and scope to the wrists lengthening the golf swing and providing greater flexibility Orthopedic engineer Stu Johnson and team OLED have custom built this new device precisely tailored for Gustav’s needs basically the first one I had was a mix so I could play hockey and floorball as well so it was
More of a stiff no flex and then I switched to uh more flex and basically the same grip but this is a new grip and a little bit more Fleck so I get more wrist action my last one was handmade so it Chang so a lot easier to just click
It on and off gustaff gave me a demonstration and the prosthetic comes off with the solid Dependable click of excellent engineering he realizes the potential of the new prosthetic more flexibility in the swing but it is taking a little time to get used to it how it attaches to the club differently
And his right hand has to grip in a slightly different position as well for any one-armed player the grip and maintaining the position of the grip through the whole swing is likely to become an obsession because it becomes so important while two hands can maintain the grip and thus the direction
Of the club with comparative ease when using one hand or one hand and a prosthetic any tiny error can create unwanted spin on the ball and poor direction and distance Gustav has a strong turn of the upper body and arms in the swing but he also creates a lot of power via his
Lower body movement the energy coming up from the ground through impact frustratingly he suffered a back injury in 2023 which may have been caused by the way he has to swing the club causing him to miss three summer g4d events and Sweden he now believes he must build up
The muscles on his left side to balance out the stronger muscles on his right side at 18 years old it is natural to look ahead of the g4d tour the highest level of gol for the disabled he says it would mean the world to me competing against the game’s best players my main
Goal is to become a top golfer on the g4d tour but also maybe winning some mini tour events here in Sweden going forwards coaching is also an exciting alternative now to that training and educational bonus we mentioned earlier Gustav is one of 12 potential g4d tour players of the
Future who will benefit from expert training in the new Player Development Camp initiative created by Edgar starting this month in January those taking part come from 10 countries and four continents meeting up at Quinta doleo Portugal supported by the European tour group it will be a week of learning
From experts on all facets of modern golf including exercise and nutrition advice the participants have all qualified to take part via progress up the world ranking for golfers with disability Gustav said I’m really stoked to have been selected to participate hopefully learning a thing or two from the professionals and experienced people
And getting loads of training in I think it’s a great concept to showcase the prospects of the future top golfers to help them in their career at philis Sol when we spoke he said that while always highly comp competitive he says he likes the whole atmosphere of Edgar events
Edgar badges or supports more than 120 International tournaments every year everyone seems like they like each other in a friend like type of way there is uh no no one casting a strange look at you or something everyone says hello and just friendly environment everyone can play with each other no problem this
Positive feeling at g4d events is great says stuff but he loves golf as a sport because it’s a game that everyone can play together regardless of technical ability and it is cross-generational of course absolutely yeah it’s a really fun game and very inclusive everyone can play everyone can have fun on different
Levels basically the feeling of hitting good shots as well as hanging out with my family playing rounds I’m here about a week so I get a few rounds from my family as well really fun just uh being together and playing something we all like it’s very fun family clearly means
So much to Gustav he is also thankful to his coach Oscar Herzberg my dad especially from my family and my family of course and uh Oscar my club coach it’s very nice helping I can always give him a call right now and he will answer and answer questions Gustav’s Advanced
Interest in learning the game and the technique implies that a coaching role could suit him down the line he told us the last two summers I was a golf leader for kids at summer camp and this summer 2023 I also supported the training for juniors at carad golf club I really
Enjoy helping the future generations of golfers with swing tips and other golf knowledge I think it’s really fun to see the players learn and develop and regardless if they are Juniors or adults I just want to help other golfers gaining inspiration from the Stars he follows a lot of Rory Moy Tiger
Woods and also Dustin Johnson whose relaxed Style on the golf course Gustav subscribes to he certainly looks relaxed on the practice ground at Villa Sol of course there is only one Rory tiger or Dustin but there is only one Gustaf too and like those great names he has shown
Everyone that he can play this game and knock it round in power or better whether Gustav becomes an architect helping make our buildings Greener or has a career in golf and perhaps becomes a coach it strikes me that he will enjoy his work and many people enjoy working
With him and the more he enjoys it the better he will get and so on it goes in this wonderful [Applause] Game this Edgar podcast was written and narrated by Ben Evans and the sound production was by Martin Maynard of sounds good you can find more stories of people with a disability thriving through golf in the profile section of the Edgar website at Edgar golf.com and you can contact
Members of our team through the website
