Volvo Cross Country Challenge Explained

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.

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

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

Year	Winner	Points	Ref.
		280	[3]
2006		577.5	[4] [5] [6] [7]
2005		307	[8] [9] [10]

Order of Merit

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

2005

	Player		Tournaments							Total
										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

	Player		Tournaments							Total
										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

	Player		Tournaments							Total
										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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kiran Matharu wins the Volvo Challenge . https://archive.today/20150422023702/http://paulhurrion.com/2007/09/kiran-matharu-wins-the-volvo-cross-country-challenge/ . 2015-04-22 . 9 September 2007.
2. Web site: LET and Volvo in new sponsorship deal . GolfToday.
3. Web site: Matharu wins Volvo Cross Country Challenge. Ladies European Tour.
4. Web site: Davies wins 2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge. Ladies European Tour.
5. Web site: 2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge. Ladies European Tour.
6. Web site: Davies and Pettersen headline SAS Masters . 23 August 2006 . Ladies European Tour.
7. Web site: Davies heads strong field for Finnair Masters . 30 August 2006 . Ladies European Tour.
8. Web site: Ekelundh receives her Volvo XC70. Ladies European Tour.
9. Web site: 2006 Volvo Cross Country Challenge. Ladies European Tour.
10. Ekelundh rullar mot toppen . Ekelundh rolls to the top . Swedish . Svensk Golf . October 2005 . 16 October 2023 . 10 . 113.