Our scholarship golfer Matilda Jonsson is ready for college in the US!
After incredible success in several international competitions, the girl from Degerfors has been offered a place with a full scholarship at the University of Georgia.
– It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of! says Matilda Jonsson.
Being recruited to a college in the US, and with a full scholarship at that, is an
accomplishment beyond the ordinary.
Behind that achievement is a determined, disciplined 18-year-old from Degerfors who has dedicated their life to golf.
– I started playing when I was 1.5 years old, says Matilda. Then she got to accompany her father Conny and her older brothers Viktor and Oskar to the golf course.
– I thought it looked so cool when my brother played, so I started swinging and kept going!
Matilda started competing seriously at the age of eleven, and was at an elite level as a 15-year-old. At the European Championship in Slovakia 2020, she made her first national team assignment, in the Swedish girls’ national team.
International breakthrough
– I was overjoyed, it was my dream. It was what I had fought for, it was my dream come true.
The list of merits has since grown longer and longer. A major breakthrough was the competition Annika Invitational Europe, which is an international junior competition started by Annika Sörenstam.
A top three finish for Matilda earned her a starting place in the final competition in Florida, USA in early 2022. There, too, there was a top result – a third place – which made around ten colleges contact Matilda. There were digital meetings with some of them, and in April she traveled with her father Conny and partner Anders Persson from A Persson Affärsutveckling AB to Georgia – among other places. There they were shown around the giant university campus in the city of Athens, got to meet coaches, and much more.
– I enjoyed myself so much! It was such a positive atmosphere and I felt like I wanted to go back! – They had more than I could’ve dreamed of – great training areas, great coaching, and incredible conditions for both golf and schoolwork.
Important support
Matilda will start at the University of Georgia in January 2023. She will attend a four-year program and be part of their women’s golf team along with nine other girls.
A Persson has been an important factor in Matilda’s increased commitment to golf in recent years. It started with Matilda receiving the ”Smidesmästarens stipendium” – (Blacksmith’s Scholarship) – of SEK 25,000 in 2021. Since then, it has developed continuously.
– Getting the support that the Persson family gives, and the financial support, means a lot to me!
– My family has always supported me and fought with me, but financially, the conditions for a commitment to golf of this level aren’t there. In order for me to get one step further, I needed this help that Perssons gives me.