With a bogey on the last hole, Carin Koch, the 39-year-old professional golfer from Gothenburg, signed her scorecard, and spoke surprisingly well about the other 17 holes on Thursday's first round of the Ricoh Women's British Open being played at Royal Birkdale. "I played great and drove the ball well. I made some great putts a few times to save par when I was about to make bogey.

The even round of 72 placed Koch among the top 20, four strokes behind leader Yani Tseng. A review of Carin Koch's season in the major statistics is pretty sparse. In fact, she has only played in seven competitions this year - compared with the 14 she logged at the same time in 2007.

There are several reasons for this. First, she is playing mainly on the Ladies European Tour, where the tournaments are fewer in number. Koch also took off a few weeks off around midsummer into early July to, as she says, "Get a really long summer holiday which is the usual for Swedes". Mainly she just wanted to spend more time with the family.

"I didn't mind being away from the family so much earlier in my career. However, my sons are eleven and seven now, and I feel these are important years where they need to have a mother at home for them. When I go to the U.S. to play, I must be away for three to four weeks and it sometimes does not work. It feels a lot better for me to play in Europe, and to be able to travel back home on Sunday evening - then go out again on Tuesday or Wednesday," says Koch.

It is also helps to feel a deeper appreciation for the game and life on the road during the weeks spent away from home. Just as she does here in Southport, England where she just relaxes with the DVD of the Swedish movie, "Solsiden" in her hotel room.

"It is a bit more relaxed now. It's fun to show myself that I still have it in me, and I try to get out there more often. The last years I have found it really difficult to find the motivation, but continued to play and play. I had to re-think everything and decide whether I should stop or go on. There is no need to continue going around and playing if you don't think it's fun."

Kass swing
A recent collaboration with coach Graham Crisp is starting to pay off for Koch. They are finalizing different details now, but they also work a lot with the whole swing movement.

"The swing was scrapped some years ago. I had played poorly and had no confidence and didn't trust the movement. We have not done much about it and are trying to get back to what works. I think I hit the ball better today then I ever have. Then there is the short game, which also is gonna need some work.

She intends to keep on competing as long as it feels good. But there are also thoughts about maybe coaching other golfers in the winter.

"I think a lot about what you can do on the side. I hope to find something else that will take over a bit, so I don't have to put as much time in  playing and practicing. I might go and learn some training methods, do some lectures or provide some coaching to share with players what I have learned over the years."

When asked if she would work with players on the tour or all types of golfers, Koch laughed and said, "Those who pay the best;" adding that she has not thought it out that far.

It would seem she has the first rule of business down already.

Original text by Eric Franzen for Golf.se

Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images Europe

One of the good guys in Swedish golf is Joakim Haeggman. You will be hard put to find anyone more enthusiastic about playing the game of golf. Swedish Golf Online is a little biased about Joakim, as we have had the pleasure of witnessing that passion first hand. We were in the same group with Haeggman at a casual scramble event. Not only was he sociable, but his patience with the amateurs he played with (like me) was greatly appreciated. He was as excited about a good shot as any of we golfers are. He was generous with his time and his stories and anecdotes of the Tour life. Knowing this man is a pleasure indeed.

He has played on the tour for over 20 years. He is as one of three Swedish players who have won the Scandinavian Masters. He has won on the Challenge Tour and the Asian Tour. But now, Joakim Haeggman, is reaching the back side of his career as he formulates plans for his future. His tour status has been uncertain for some time. Is it time to take a new road?  He doesn't know, but he is clear about one objective: he will play full time on the European Tour again.

In 2008, Haeggman spent a year on the Challenge Tour, but that is something he will not go back to. The car travel to events on bad golf courses, with little prize money and no audience was not working for him. He felt no "buzz" so it is no longer an option. Now, it's all or nothing.
"I want to come back and play golf at the Tour level. Otherwise,for my part,this may be it," he says. When you go out on the driving range in the morning and realize that half of the players could be my kids. No, it's not for me.

The player from Kalmar, Sweden has just logged his third round at the Scandinavian Masters out on a windy Bro Hof and he is not very happy with his round. Still, he's happy to play the contest and is looking forward to Sunday's round. Although he is far down the leader board, Haeggman knows that as a former winner of the tournament, he has some allure to attract an audience even though he starts playing early in the morning. It is on the Big Tour that he needs to be.

"I'll play damn well in the qualifiers in the autumn, so I will be back on tour again. Maybe I should qualify for the U.S. tour this fall, as well.

What if the the qualifying route doesn't work out, what then?

"I don't know. I have still a number of competitions on the European Tour that I get to play. So, I must decide if I can let it go or not."

After suffering an injury, he is now in great physical shape. Or as great a shape one who is 40 plus can be after playing golf at the highest level for over 20 years. He laughed a bit at the position he and friends such as Jesper Parnevik and Per Ulrik Johansson are now in.

"We have been playing for some years now, and it is beginning to affect us. This spring, it was a broken vertebra in Jesper's back and the synovial fluid leaked into the buttocks and the sciatic nerve. I got so-called foot drop, and walked around like a pensioner. But I'm back to me, again.

The health is only temporary,he well knows. The question is how long can the body go?

"The problem is that it breaks down in the gym. It breaks when you practice. A drive bends the bones in the back. You jump wrong and there goes a calf muscle."

But right now he is feeling good about everything and now will pay some Challenge Tour Races this fall to tune-up  the game before European Tour qualifying. And qualifying for the U.S. Tour? 

We'll let you know.

Edited from the original story in Golf.se by Karin Klarström