10 Things You Didn't Know About Sanna Nuutinen

Learn more about Finnish Olympic golfer Sanna Nuutinen with these facts

10 Things You Didn't Know About Sanna Nuutinen

Sanna Nuutinen is a regular golfer on the Ladies European Tour, and will represent Finland for the first time professionally at the Tokyo Olympics.

But what more is there to know about the Finn who has three professional wins to her name in her career?

10 Things You Didn't Know About Sanna Nuutinen

1. Nuutinen was born 8 April 1991 in Helsinki, Finland, where she still lives now.

2. The Finn reluctantly started golf at age seven, because she preferred horse riding instead.

"I started golf at age seven after my parents dragged me to the course and I got my Green Card [golf basics qualification] at age 11.

At first I hated golf, a visit to the golf course was a condition for me to continue horseback riding."

3. Nuutinen's idol is Swedish golfer Annika Sorenstam, who has won ten Major titles in her impressive career.

4. Sanna is superstitious when she plays well, opting to use the same ball in consecutive days if she has played well with it on the course.

5. She attended Texas Christian University between 2010 and 2014, playing for the TCU Horned Frogs, and she graduated with a BSc in Sport Psychology.

While at university, she won the 2012 Mountain West Conference Championship, which is no mean feat.

6. Upon returning from university in the United States, Nuutinen decided to turn professional, and she joined the Ladies European Tour Access Series mid-season.

She has won three time on the LET Access Series, with her first coming at the 2016 NordicTrack Open de Strasbourg.

Her fifth-place finish on the 2016 Order of Merit earned Nuutinen her membership for the Ladies European Tour for the 2017 season.

7. Nuutinen's two other victories on the LET Access Series came at the 2019 Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge, and the 2020 Flumserberg Ladies Open.

8. Despite having not won on the LET to date, her best finish is T2, which came at the 2020 Tipsports Czech Ladies Open.

Her performances that year also earned her fifth-place on the LET Order of Merit.

9. Nuutinen qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after finishing third at both the Jabra Ladies Open and the Scandinavian Mixed on the LET in 2021.

The Games will be the first time she is representing her country professionally.

10. While Sanna hasn't represented Finland professionally before the Olympics, she has played for them on no less than nine occasions at amateur level.

She represented her nation at the European Girls' Team Championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009, before playing at the 2010, 2011 and 2012 European Ladies' Team Championship.

She also played at both the 2010 and 2012 Espirito Santo Trophy.