Sweden’s Mikael Sorling has been appointed as Chairman of the Ryder Cup European Development Trust (RCEDT), the fund that channels profits from the biennial Matches against the USA into pan-continental grass roots development projects.
Sorling, experienced as a fund trustee, will now head the committee that considers all the applications made by national Federations, PGAs and other organisations and, where felt to be appropriate, will sanction grants to the organisations for such development schemes.
Of the considerable sums raised by the Ryder Cup for the Trust, much of it has been dispersed to many wide-ranging projects from a variety of countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, France, Italy, Ireland, the UK and elsewhere.
Mikael Sorling’s qualifications for such a role are probably unrivalled anywhere due to the studious thirst and determination that he has shown to equip himself for office in virtually any and every sector of the sport, from his playing days onward and upward.
Sweden’s leading amateur during the 1970s, he became a professional in 1980 and then assistant club professional at Halmstad GC. He became fully qualified in 1982 and was appointed to the PGA of Sweden board, a position he occupied for nine years. By 1986 he was both Head Pro and Golf Manager at Halmstad and Chairman of the Tournament Committee of the PGA of Sweden, quickly helping to create a ground-breaking agreement with the Swedish Golf Federation.
Though responsible for all this administration, he won six national club pro titles along the way. Almost inevitably he became chief executive of the PGA of Sweden in 1997 and a director of the PGAs of Europe the following year before being invited onto the European Ryder Cup Board and to be a trustee of the European Ryder Cup Trust Fund.
He has also been the driving force behind the establishment of the PGA of Sweden National golf resort that boasts two superb golf courses, academy and the PGA of Sweden HQ, a combination of skills and achievements that earned him the prestigious award of PGAs of Europe Five-Star Professional at the 2011 Annual Awards Dinner in the Algarve, Portugal last November.
With this experience and passion it is very clear that the chairmanship of the RCEDT is in excellent hands.
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