Volvo Cross Country Challenge

The Volvo Cross Country Challenge was a women's professional golf series on the Ladies European Tour. It was a separate dedicated yearly order of merit for events in the Nordic region and held each year from 2005 to 2007.

Volvo Cross Country Challenge
Tournament information
Established2005
Tour(s)Ladies European Tour
Prize fund$120,000
$1,000,000 (bonus)
Volvo XC70
Final year2007
Final champion
England Kiran Matharu

The winner of the challenge received a Volvo car and prize money. The 18-year-old Kiran Matharu from Leeds, England, had yet to learn to drive when she won the Challenge and a brand new Volvo XC70 in 2007.[1]

Participation

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To qualify, players had to participate in at least three out of four of the LET tournaments hosted in Nordic countries:

  1. Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika (Sweden)
  2. SAS Masters (Norway)
  3. Finnair Masters (Finland)
  4. Nykredit Masters (Denmark)

Prize money collected in these tournaments were added up in a "Volvo XC Challenge Order-of-Merit". The top ten players on this Order-of-Merit shared a prize fund of $120,000.

In addition, players could get $1,000,000 bonus by winning all four of the above tournaments in one season.[2]

Winners

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Year Winner Points Ref.
2007   Kiran Matharu 280 [3]
2006   Laura Davies 577.5 [4][5][6][7]
2005   Cecilia Ekelundh 307 [8][9][10]

Order of Merit

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The winners were determined by an Order of Merit based on results in the four tournaments, calculated using a points-based system.

2005

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Pos. Player Tournaments Tmts Total
Sweden Norway Finland Denmark Money Points
1   Cecilia Ekelundh T25
N
O
T

H
E
L
D
T2
157
3
150
3 34,508 307
2   Iben Tinning T18
T16
4
1st
300
3 39,310 304
3   Lisa Holm Sorensen T49
1st
300
T61
4 33,020 300
4   Suzann Pettersen 6
70
T2
177
3 32,533 247
5   Lora Fairclough T38
T12
27.5
2
275
3 27,398 227.5

2006

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Pos. Player Tournaments Tmts Total
Sweden Norway Finland Denmark Money Points
1   Laura Davies T5
80
1st
300
T11
22.5
T2
175
4 69,855 577.5
2   Virginie Lagoutte T34
T3
135
1st
300
T12
17.5
4 49,550 452.5
3   Karen Margrethe Juul T23
T11
11
T6
48
1st
300
4 44,195 359
4   Gwladys Nocera 4
120
T11
11
T3
135
T8
40
4 46,942 306
5   Annika Sörenstam 1st
300
1 75,000 300

2007

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Pos. Player Tournaments Tmts Total
Sweden Norway Finland Denmark Money Points
1   Kiran Matharu T28
T4
105
T2
175
3 32,145 280
2   Lotta Wahlin T60
T34
3
150
4
120
4 28,090 270
3   Johanna Westerberg T58
T6
60
2
200
T19
4 31,263 260
4   Kirsty Taylor T39
T33
2
200
3 22,738 175
5   Diana Luna T97
T3
135
T10
25
3 15,884 160
  Win
  Top 5
  Made points cut
 Did not play

References

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  1. ^ "Kiran Matharu wins the Volvo Challenge". 9 September 2007. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015.
  2. ^ "LET and Volvo in new sponsorship deal". GolfToday.
  3. ^ Ladies European Tour. "Matharu wins Volvo Cross Country Challenge".
  4. ^ Ladies European Tour. "Davies wins 2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge".
  5. ^ Ladies European Tour. "2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge".
  6. ^ Ladies European Tour (23 August 2006). "Davies and Pettersen headline SAS Masters".
  7. ^ Ladies European Tour (30 August 2006). "Davies heads strong field for Finnair Masters".
  8. ^ Ladies European Tour. "Ekelundh receives her Volvo XC70".
  9. ^ Ladies European Tour. "2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge".
  10. ^ "Ekelundh rullar mot toppen" [Ekelundh rolls to the top]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 10. October 2005. p. 113. Retrieved 16 October 2023.