Minea Blomqvist Explained

Minea Blomqvist-Kakko
Nickname:Minni
Birth Date:12 March 1985
Birth Place:Espoo, Finland
Spouse:Roope Kakko
Children:Elmo
Yearpro:2003
Tour:Ladies European Tour (joined 2004)
LPGA Tour (joined 2006)
Prowins:7
Letwins:2
Otherwins:5
Nabisco:T47: 2008
Lpga:T25: 2006
Wusopen:T27: 2008
Wbritopen:T8: 2004
Evian:DNP
Award1:Ladies European Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year1:2004
Award2:Nedbank Women's Golf Tour
Order of Merit
Year2:2004

Minea "Minni" Blomqvist, (born 12 March 1985 in Espoo, Finland) is a professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour in the early 2000s. She won twice on the Ladies European Tour.

Amateur career

Blomqvist was a member of the Finnish National Ladies Team from 2001 to 2003 and played in the 2002 Espirito Santo Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships.[1] She was a two-time member of the European PING Junior Solheim Cup Team in 2002 and 2003[2] winning all her matches in the winning 2003 side[3] and she represented Europe in the 2003 Vagliano Trophy.

She played as an amateur on the Swedish Golf Tour four times in 2000 and 2001 missing the cut each time.[4] [5] In 2002, she played in three Swedish Golf Tour events and recorded two top twenty finishes plus a win at the Sparbanken Ladies Open.[6] In 2003, she played in five Swedish Golf Tour tournaments, recorded two runner up finishes plus a win at the CA Ladies Trophy,[7] and was named Telia Tour Player of the Year.[8]

Professional career

Blomqvist turned professional late in 2003 and in 2004 claimed her maiden victory in only her second tournament as a professional at the Pam Golding Ladies International on the Nedbank Women's Golf Tour in South Africa[9] following this up with a win in the Telkom Women's Classic a week later.[10] These results meant she finished top of the Nedbank Women's Golf Tour Order of Merit for 2004.[11]

Having finished 36th at the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in 2003,[7] Blomqvist had conditional status for 2004 when making her Ladies European Tour debut in Tenerife where she finished fourth.[12] She won her maiden LET tournament later in the year in Hungary[13] and gained her first top ten finish in a major at the Women's British Open during which she shot a record low score of 62.[14] She had five other top twenty LET finishes in 2004 together with another win at the Öijared Ladies Open on the Telia Tour[15] and was the LET Rookie of the Year.[16]

At the start of 2005 she teamed with Riikka Hakkarainen to represent Finland at the inaugural Women's World Cup of Golf.[17] On the Ladies European Tour she posted 11 top-20 finishes, including back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Ladies English Open[18] and the OTP Bank Ladies Central European Open[19] and earned non-exempt status for the 2006 LPGA Tour season by tying for 34th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.[20]

At the start of 2006 she again teamed with Riikka Hakkarainen to represent Finland at the Women's World Cup of Golf.[21] She concentrated on playing on the LPGA tour in 2006 ending the season with a best finish of 24th and 102nd on the money list.

In 2008 Blomqvist added another success to her résumé. By winning the Finnair Masters she became the first Finn to triumph in that event.[22] Another notable achievement was finishing tied as a runner-up at the rain-shortened Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika, where she played her last round in 63 strokes.[23] On LPGA Tour her best finish was 3rd place at the Safeway International.[24]

Personal

Blomqvist gave birth to her son Elmo 31 March 2010. The father is Roope Kakko, which she married on New Year's Eve 2011.[25] [26]

Professional wins (7)

Ladies European Tour (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
118 Jul 2004Ladies Central European Open−14 (62-67-70=199)4 strokes Gina Scott
Emma Zackrisson
229 Aug 2008Finnair Masters−11 (69-68-65=202)1 stroke Ursula Wikström

Swedish Golf Tour (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
17 Sep 2002Sparbanken Ladies Open
(as an amateur)
−2 (72-70-72=214)1 stroke
227 May 2003CA Ladies Trophy
(as an amateur)
+2 (72-74=146)3 strokes Emelie Leijon
Erica Steen
34 Sep 2004Öijared Ladies Open−6 (74-65-71=210)1 stroke Ursula Wikström
^ Shortened to 36 holes due to weather

Nedbank Women's Golf Tour (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
125 Mar 2004Pam Golding Ladies International–3 (71-73-69=213) 1 stroke Ashleigh Simon (a)
21 Apr 2004Telkom Women's Classic–12 (73-63-68=204) 7 strokes Ashleigh Simon (a)

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Amateur Team Championship Record Books . IGF (International Golf Federation) . 2007-04-12.
  2. Web site: Alfredsson named as European Junior Captain . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2003-08-29 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201259/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=4250 . 2007-09-30 .
  3. Web site: Back to school for LET . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2003-10-30 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061025110803/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=4344 . 2006-10-25.
  4. Web site: Telia Tour Results 2000 . golf.se . 2007-04-13.
  5. Web site: Telia Tour Results 2001 . golf.se . 2007-04-13.
  6. Web site: Tour Results 2002 . golf.se . 2007-04-13.
  7. Web site: Tour Results 2003 . golf.se . 2007-04-13.
  8. Web site: Minea Blomqvist Player Profile . Ladies European Tour) . 2007-04-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061113050413/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.info/profiles/120241.htm . 2006-11-13.
  9. Web site: Pam Golding Ladies International . Vlismas, Michael . Ladies African Tour . 2004-03-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004718/http://www.ladiesafricantour.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=45 . dead . 2007-09-27 . 2007-04-13.
  10. Web site: Telkom Women's Classic . Vlismas, Michael . Ladies African Tour . 2004-04-01 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004646/http://www.ladiesafricantour.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=45 . 2007-09-27.
  11. Web site: 2004 Order of Merit . Ladies African Tour . 2004-04-06 . 2007-04-13.
  12. Web site: LET heads to Portugal with youthful look . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2004-05-06 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000128/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=4412 . 2007-09-28.
  13. Web site: Blomqvist secures maiden victory in Hungary . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2004-07-18 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061025084656/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=4471 . 2006-10-25.
  14. Web site: Blomqvist makes history at Sunningdale with 62 . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2004-07-31 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201151/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_feature.php?Id=4489 . 2007-09-30.
  15. Web site: Tour Results 2004 . golf.se . 2007-04-13.
  16. Web site: Blomqvist wins Rookie of the Year. . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2004-10-03 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061025094337/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_feature.php?Id=4516 . 2006-10-25.
  17. Web site: Women's World Cup of Golf: Twenty teams confirmed . Ladies European Tour . Park, Martin . 2004-12-17 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201343/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=3647 . 2007-09-30 .
  18. Web site: Hjorth wins back-to-back Ladies English Opens . Ladies European Tour . Cutler, Bethan . 2005-07-10 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061025091347/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=3838 . 2006-10-25.
  19. Web site: Kreutz claims OTP Bank Central European Open . Ladies European Tour . Cutler, Bethan . 2005-07-16 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000033/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_news.php?Id=3842 . 2007-09-28.
  20. Web site: Full Career Bio . . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122237/http://www.lpga.com/content/2007PlayerBiosPDF/Blomqvist-07.pdf . 2007-09-29.
  21. Web site: Stellar field for Women's World Cup of Golf . Ladies European Tour . 2005-12-14 . 2007-04-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201913/http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/content/let_content_feature.php?Id=3994 . 2007-09-30 .
  22. Web site: Blomqvist wins Finnair Masters on Home Turf . Ladies European Tour . 2008-08-31 . 2008-08-31.
  23. Web site: Scandinavian TPC Hosted by Annika Leaderboard . golfdata.se . 2008-08-10 . 2008-08-10.
  24. Web site: Lorena Ochoa pulls away to defend Safeway International title . IHT . 2008-03-31 . 2008-08-13.
  25. http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com/main_article.php?id=56910&pid=1005 "Minea Blomqvist starts new season as Blomqvist-Kakko" LET, retrieved 2012-01-11.
  26. Web site: Motherhood and Donald Duck big with Finland's Blomqvist . Reuters Canada . 2011-06-24 .
  27. Web site: European Girls' Team Championship – European Golf Association . 19 October 2015 . 18 December 2017.