Freshman Lina Hattenbach plays on Western Washington University’s women’s varsity golf team. She grew up in Lidingö, Sweden and is thinking about majoring in business.
She started golfing because her parents golfed, but soccer was her main sport. She switched to golf when she was around 15 years old and started taking it more seriously her last year of high school.
“I realized that I probably could come over to the United States and play,” Hattenbach said. “So that’s when I started searching for schools and found Western. It was a match, and I liked Coach Bennett, so I committed.”
Hattenbach said golf is a big sport in Sweden, and it’s growing. The country is trying to get more women, young adults and children out there playing the sport, and they are succeeding with that, she said.
Competing on the women’s team has also brought a positive experience for Hattenbach.
“I’ve always loved to be in a team,” she said. “The difference between Sweden and the United States is that in Sweden, it’s more individual and in the United States, you’re really on a team. I enjoy that, and it makes such a big difference. I love all my teammates, and it’s a great dynamic.”
Bennett said Hattenbach is not just a good golfer, but a positive role model on the team.
“Lina is a little bit more reserved,” women’s golf head coach Luke Bennett said. “But you talk about someone who just shows tons of respect and who is reliable.”
Bennett said that since golf is individualized, his responsibility as a coach is to set up different practice ideas so that his players can work on making the weak parts of their golf game much stronger.
“We just got to get to regionals,” Bennett said. “I think this team has a great shot of doing so. And I think we’ve shown in the fall that we can compete with [our conference opponents], and my expectations and my hope is that we do the same thing this spring and make it to the postseason.”
From Feb. 28 to March 1, Hattenbach and the varsity women’s golf team travels to Alameda, California, to compete in their first tournament since October 2021 at the California State East Bay Invite.
Click here to read about other international student-athletes at Western.
Taras McCurdie (he/him) is the sports editor for The Front this quarter. He is an aspiring sports journalist entering his final quarter at Western Washington University (WWU). Outside of school, you can find him freelancing for the Lynden Tribune, playing on the WWU club tennis team or running on the treadmill at the Rec Center. When chilling at night, he listens to throwback slow jams and ’90s hip-hop. You can reach him at tarasmccurdie.thefront@gmail.com.
