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Her brother, Mark, aged 20 and their friend, Egert Põldma, 22, both turned professional this January and all play at the Estonian Golf and Country Club, one of three courses around Tallinn.
The club on the north coast – a European Tour Properties venue, has a firm pedigree as it hosted the European Qualifier for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in August. It will also host the 2012 Estonian Open.
Born and raised in Tallinn, Suursalu was introduced to the game by her family and turned pro at the end of 2008. She has spent the last three years competing on the Nordea Tour in Sweden, but added the LET Access Series events to her schedule when the tour was launched in 2010.
Whilst she is yet to make a cut on the LETAS, Suursalu feels that it will be the ideal route onto playing the LET.
“I enjoy the LETAS. My goal is to play on the LET but this is the best we have at the moment with the Nordea Tour and the Access Series,” she said. “I plan to attend LET Q School next year, but I’ve been three times already.”
There are more than a million visitors to Estonia every year and it is only a four hour drive from one side of the country to the other. Winters are cold, but the welcome is said to be warm.
There are only 2000 golfers and eight golf courses in Estonia, so Mari is a rare talent. She says that the LETAS is the ideal tour for her to compete against other international players.
“I’ve won many Estonian titles but the competition there cannot really compare,” she says.
Until June she was studying Physical Education at Tallinn University, but she also enjoys playing other sports, reading, theatre and music.
Her next appearance on the LETAS will be at the Murcia Ladies Open at La Manga Club in Spain in November.
The experience should give her the ideal preparation for next year’s LET Qualifying School, taking place at La Manga Club from January 6-20, 2012.
