Sagstrom travels from Sweden to LSU for culture, coach
When deciding to go to a university, college athletes often have many things which factor in from going to one university or another. These factors include program quality, enviornment, location and so on. One of the more important things is the culture of the area and the coaches that will be working with the players. Culture and a coach are two main reasons senior golfer Madelene Sagstrom decided to move from her hometown of Enkoping, Sweden, to Louisiana State University.
Sagstrom said the culture of Louisiana has been very welcoming since she has come to the university and has helped her to love the school. "The spirit, the school spirit, everyone is so , everyone just loves everything about LSU, you see LSU everywhere. If you tell someone you go to LSU they’re like ‘wow that’s so awesome,'" Sagstrom says. Coming from an area nearly 5,000 miles away, Sagstrom made it clear she wanted to go to an area where she was felt comfortable. "I wanted to go to a place where I felt loved and welcomed and this was really it.”
The atmosphere of LSU drew Sagstrom towards making her decision, but with coach being another important factor, she made an important connection with one of the coaches in the program. Head coach Karen Bahnsen and Sagstrom seemed to have an immediate bond. "I had a really good connection with Karen right away. She had watched me play a bunch of times, and we’ve just had very good connection over e-mails and phone calls."
Bahnsen had been recruiting the Swedish native as she played overseas and said her first impressions of Sagstrom were nothing but positive. "She is probably one of the hardest workers I've seen in golf and that's in 30 years so that's saying something," Bahnsen says. One thing that stood out for Bahnsen when recruiting Sagstrom was the technique she developed. “She probably has one of the best golf swings I’ve ever seen. It really is. It’s just so fundamentally sound." The coach also said that the potentional with Sagstrom was obvious, and she knew that Sagstrom could continue to improve.
Sagstrom has been golfing since she was 12-years-old and could have went directly to the professional level, but she decided to go to college as a safer option. “I figured that I wanted to have a back-up plan if golf didn’t turn out the way I wanted and being here being able to play year round was my obvious choice so that’s why I came here.”
She still plans on pursuing a professional career, and, when the time comes for her to say her goodbyes, it may be anything but easy for Bahnsen to part with her. "She's kind of like my other daughter you know, so I’ll miss her, not just as a golfer you know, as a player, but as a person as well."
Sagstrom said the culture of Louisiana has been very welcoming since she has come to the university and has helped her to love the school. "The spirit, the school spirit, everyone is so , everyone just loves everything about LSU, you see LSU everywhere. If you tell someone you go to LSU they’re like ‘wow that’s so awesome,'" Sagstrom says. Coming from an area nearly 5,000 miles away, Sagstrom made it clear she wanted to go to an area where she was felt comfortable. "I wanted to go to a place where I felt loved and welcomed and this was really it.”
The atmosphere of LSU drew Sagstrom towards making her decision, but with coach being another important factor, she made an important connection with one of the coaches in the program. Head coach Karen Bahnsen and Sagstrom seemed to have an immediate bond. "I had a really good connection with Karen right away. She had watched me play a bunch of times, and we’ve just had very good connection over e-mails and phone calls."
Bahnsen had been recruiting the Swedish native as she played overseas and said her first impressions of Sagstrom were nothing but positive. "She is probably one of the hardest workers I've seen in golf and that's in 30 years so that's saying something," Bahnsen says. One thing that stood out for Bahnsen when recruiting Sagstrom was the technique she developed. “She probably has one of the best golf swings I’ve ever seen. It really is. It’s just so fundamentally sound." The coach also said that the potentional with Sagstrom was obvious, and she knew that Sagstrom could continue to improve.
Sagstrom has been golfing since she was 12-years-old and could have went directly to the professional level, but she decided to go to college as a safer option. “I figured that I wanted to have a back-up plan if golf didn’t turn out the way I wanted and being here being able to play year round was my obvious choice so that’s why I came here.”
She still plans on pursuing a professional career, and, when the time comes for her to say her goodbyes, it may be anything but easy for Bahnsen to part with her. "She's kind of like my other daughter you know, so I’ll miss her, not just as a golfer you know, as a player, but as a person as well."