SOUTHAMPTON, NY – There’s a steak. And then there is Icelandic beef.
Again Icelandic The beef, next to your knife and fork, looks just like you would ask for at your local butcher shop. But, as you can imagine from this setup, the difference between an Icelandic steak is its sequence. Which does not come by chance. Cattle are built differently on an island south of the Arctic Circle.
Because of those who think about them.
There is no consensus.
Nothing is artificial.
“It’s still … fresh,” Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson said of the beef.
It’s Tuesday afternoon at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, two days before the US Open, and Sveinsson is headed to the bench, perhaps a long way from the clubhouse. A few minutes earlier, Scottie Scheffler walked by. He is playing for a career grand slam. On the other hand, Adam Scott entered the support structure. This week, he is pitching in his 100th-straight big game. History. History makers, like Sveinsson, who goes by Arni, which may remind Arnold Palmer, the King, and this Arni is golf royalty himself. With the final victory nine days ago, the 20-year-old became the US Open golfer, which no one in Iceland has done before, which is understandable, given the circumstances. Golf is something played in the Nordic countries; according to Golf Iceland, it has around 60,000 players and just over 60 courses. It’s the golf season in the far north that lasts about four months long, from May to September, which means if you want to play any of the other eight months of the year, your golf bag better have a snow shovel.
Sveinsson did. His mom and dad, Halla Arnadottir and Sveinn Ogmundsson, have videos of it, as moms and dads record videos of them holding their boys and girls, wearing gloves and hats, in the backyard shoveling powder off a small putting green. Pride is mixed with wonder. Arni puts! Is Arni posing?
In another phone video, Arni’s head is wrapped around all but his balls as he sends the ball into the net, the thwack of the ball especially thwacky in the dry, winter air. In the photo, Arni hits a distance, lit only by the headlights of Halla’s car. He also played inside when he could.
As Halla and Sveinn accompanied Arni as he played a practice round on Tuesday, they said they remembered Arni being upset when their indoor club was closed on Christmas Day. “He said, ‘Why? Why are they closed? I want to go golfing with you and Trackman,'” Halla said. “And we said, ‘It’s a national holiday, you can’t play.'” When he was 12, Arni started writing down goals. Make a team. Then make a national team. A few years ago, someone said “pro.”
“It’s true, I didn’t want to fulfill his dream,” said Halla. “In my mind, I thought he’s from Iceland, he won’t make it as a professional. But then I believed in him and I hope he’s the best.”
Sveinsson started winning international competitions. He built his own flamboyant package, and American universities started calling. He committed to East Tennessee State, then Louisiana State after ETSU coach Jake Amos was hired in Baton Rouge. Last year, as a freshman, Sveinsson won one race and finished in the top five. This season, he won again. He is currently ranked 14th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. And if you’re curious, you’ve been to LSU football games and LSU football game tailgates. Mom and Dad were at last year’s Texas A&M game. He watches a lot of sports. He listens to some music; Kaleo, an Icelandic rock group with several hits, is his driving force. He never really got into video games.
Then came last Monday, at the final qualifying tournament in Westerville, Ohio. Sveinsson has survived four out of three play-offs. My father was her boyfriend, and they talked about family and stories. My mother watched from home. Around midnight there, he saw her walking ahead. He broke down.
“I was following along online, and then they had a playoff on the Golf Channel, so I could watch it on TV,” Halla said. “And then the golf club was broadcasting live on Instagram. So we had the Golf Channel on TV and Instagram on the phone. So I was with our oldest son and his girlfriend and my mom. And I really didn’t know whether to scream or cry or laugh when he passed.”
Six days later, people began arriving on Long Island. The entourage is great. Arni. Mom and Dad. Amos. The agent. A maths man from the Icelandic Golf Federation. His physio, Gauti Gretarsson; he, too, has phone videos, including one where Sveinsson dribbles a basketball with his right hand while trying to catch small orange balls with his left, which is as intense as it sounds. A few trainers are here. His ancestors are coming. About a dozen members from the home club flew in; they skip the national event to play their game.
This week, it felt strange, even for someone who prides himself on being grounded. On Sunday, he beat the likes of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy. On Monday, he played a practice round with Reed, as two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau played. On Tuesday, he played Ryder Cupper Nicolai Hojgaard, and on Wednesday, he played former LSU star Sam Burns. Justin Rose reached out and took her hand. At first glance, Sveinsson’s game is the quadruple P — power, pitching, positioning and composure. He can swing the ball and touch it, with no sign of emotion, although he thinks there will be a few come Thursday, when he starts his Open at 2:20 p.m.
For moms and dads, it’s been a few weeks since they’ve seen his name on one of the electronic leaderboards here; 18 on Tuesday, Sveinn took out his phone and recorded the incident. But the autographs are the most amazing. Children? You call their son? No one is missed. Everything is signed.
A few feet away, Hella said she always had. Nothing to do.
He hopes to inspire. He is the first Icelander, but he believes there will be a second and a third, and so on. Hard work can get you to the US Open, even from snowy Iceland. There is no consensus. Icelandic steaks. And Icelandic golfers.
“We are very proud,” said Halla. “It’s a great honor for him as well.” And for all the little kids at home and kids his age and older to see that it’s possible, even though you come from a small country, a small island in the Atlantic.
“If you have the dedication and focus, you can do it.”
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