From the Night Shift to the Winner's Circle

Sweden’s Oliver Lilliedahl was finishing a shift at an indoor golf club when his work really began. For the past few years, the 27-year-old Nordic Pro Tour member has worked 160–170 hours a month during the offseason, serving food and drinks and troubleshooting simulators. He also plays rounds on Trackman's NEXT Golf Tour in between shifts.

After opening the third NEXT World Series event with four-under at Adare Manor, Oliver knew he’d need something special to catch the leader, Czech Republic’s Simon Zach. As his shift wound down, a thought crossed his mind: no one has ever shot 59 on the NEXT Tour.

The center of the clubface had been elusive in Round 1. The stakes were high: a $150,000 purse with a $30,000 winner’s check – a fortune for a guy serving drinks. Oliver had won the first event of NEXT’s Season 2 at Marco Simone two seasons earlier, back when events were just one round. Now the World Series demanded two exceptional scores. Careful with money, he still had portion of that old winner’s check tucked away.

With his shift at the indoor club over and 59 in his head, Oliver practiced into the night. The season had already been encouraging: a T10 and T3 in the first two events had earned him nearly $10,000. But as he flushed iron after iron late into the evening, the only thing on his mind was playing the best round of his life. He got home after midnight and planned to play the final round before his next shift.

“When I woke up, there was something in me that told me I was going to shoot 59,” Oliver says. “A friend told me he could see it in my eyes.”

Friends and co-workers came to watch the second round. A junior golfer who practices with Oliver regularly showed up as well, as he does for every tournament. Oliver thinks of him as a virtual caddie — someone who knows his game and simulator golf well enough to talk through decisions under pressure.

Oliver began Round 2 ten shots back. After two opening pars, he birdied the third and went to work, peppering the gimmie circle with crisp iron shots. At the seventh, accounting for the adrenaline surging through his body, he judged his approach perfectly and made eagle.

“It gets to the point where you feel your heart pumping fast,” Oliver says. “You see the numbers on the screen and you know you’ve got a lot of adrenaline.”

A hole-out from 70 yards at the 10th brought another eagle and moved him to eight-under for the round, just two shots off the lead. A birdie at the next hole cut the deficit to one. Then came a brief stall — a couple missed fairways, burned edges — and Oliver reached the final hole still one behind Zach.

The par-5 closer at Adare Manor winds along a narrow ravine, hugging the left side of the fairway and the right edge of the green. Oliver took the creek out of play by driving down a neighboring hole, giving himself a direct line to the flag. Then he hit the best shot of the day.

From more than 250 yards, his long iron came out low and on line, landed well short of the green, bounced three times, and tracked toward the hole. The gallery urged it closer, calling for it to go in. The ball narrowly missed the low edge and rolled about 15 feet past. The right-to-left putt was for 61 and the clubhouse lead.

“When I was standing over that eagle putt, I knew a birdie would still give me the lead,” Oliver says. “But with so many good players left, I needed that eagle.”

Oliver rolled the putt perfectly and it started breaking. A few feet from the hole, he raised his arms as the ball tracked dead center. Applause filled the room, followed by a congratulatory hug.

“When I holed it, the whole world sank from my shoulders,” Oliver says. “That was a special moment.”

He started his work shift that day with several charging players closing their second rounds. Understandably, Oliver spent much of it glued to his phone. One by one, contenders finished — none within two shots. By the time his shift ended, Oliver was the winner.

“I felt a lot of relief,” Oliver says. “I just wanted to post a good score, get on the leaderboard, and earn some money.”

That night, Oliver and his girlfriend popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated quietly. He now leads the Order of Merit heading into the $250,000 Tour Championship, where the season-long winner earns a DP World Tour start and HotelPlanner Tour exemptions. With the biggest purse of the season, he’ll need to fend off a field stacked with accomplished players.

But he’s learned something from chasing 59.

“Obviously, I didn’t shoot 59,” Oliver says. “But if I went into the round thinking I needed to shoot 61, I think I would’ve come up short. When you exaggerate your goals a little, it pushes you to reach deeper.”

‍