In her second season competing on the Epson Tour, Frida Kinhult (Fiskebackskil, Sweden), fired a 4-under 68 in the first round of the Epson Classic at River Run Country Club. Last year, Kinhult claimed her first professional win in Davidson, North Carolina at the Epson Tour Championship.
“I gave myself a lot of chances out there. Four-under par is good, but I think I still missed three or four putts under six-feet, so it could have been really good,” said Kinhult. “I still had the same mindset as last year, super aggressive, and it seems like it works. It’s definitely different than last year without my mom on the bag. But I know she is coming next week so I am really excited about that.”
Last year in eight starts Kinhult made seven cuts with three top-10 finishes and ended the season No. 4 on the money list. The 21-year-old is currently No. 62 in the Race for the Card. Now, returning where she knows she can play well, Kinhult gives herself a one-stroke lead going into the weekend.
“I hit the ball really solid off the tee but had one in the water on No. 9, sadly. Other than that, I hit all the fairways. In the middle of the back-nine I lost my target focus, so I hit a few bad shots and had a few bad swings. I told myself around the seventh hole that I wouldn’t finish even par today just because I lost focus, that’s such a rookie thing, so I said, be sharp and made birdies on 16 and 17 and hope I can bring that focus into tomorrow.”
PLAYER NOTES
Frida Kinhult
- Kinhult is a native of Fiskebackskil, Sweden
- Two-time winner of the Spanish Ladies Amateur Championship
- Spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings
- Member of victorious Team Europe for the 2019 Vagliano Trophy
- Three-time medalist in her year and a half at Florida State University
- Member of the victorious International Team at 2019 Arnold Palmer Cup
- 2019 Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) First Team All-American
- Set the Seminoles single-season scoring average record of 70.66 as a freshman
- Two-time winner of the European Ladies Team Championship with Team Sweden
- Named the 2019 ACC and WGCA Freshman of the Year, as well as All-ACC selection
- Shared 2019 ACC Player of the Year honors with now LPGA member Jennifer Kupcho
- Her father Mikael is a golf teaching pro and brother Marcus is a European Tour member
- Finished T67 at 2019 LPGA Q-Series to first earn Epson Tour membership as a 2020 rookie
- In 2020, she recorded three top-10s including one win at the Epson Tour Championship
- Finished fourth on the Epson Tour money list last year
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