This Coastal Carolina golf alumnus will be playing on the European Tour in 2019

Sebastian Soderberg, who was inducted into the Coastal Carolina George F. “Buddy” Sasser Athletics Hall of Fame this past weekend, will be playing on the European Tour in 2019.

Soderberg finished fifth on the European Challenge Tour’s order of merit, also known as the Road to Ras Al Khaimah standings, to be one of 15 players to graduate to Europe’s top circuit.

Soderberg is No. 219 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The expansive 12-month European Tour schedule begins this month, features the Race to Dubai points competition and includes 48 tournaments in 31 countries spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America.

Eight tournaments that form the Rolex Series events have minimum purses of $7 million U.S. dollars. The opening event in Hong Kong from Nov. 22-25 has a $2 million purse.

In 19 Challenge Tour events in 2018, Soderberg earned nearly $160,000. He won the Italian Challenge in July, finished second in both the D+D REAL Czech Challenge in May and Bridgestone Challenge in England in September, and had 12 top-25 finishes. He also missed the cut in two European Tour starts.

He ended the season with a tie for 22nd in the Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final on Nov. 3.

Soderberg, who was nicknamed “Seabass” at Coastal after the character in the film “Dumb and Dumber,” has some European Tour experience with 28 starts but has never been fully exempt for a season. The Sweden native tied for third in the 2015 Nordea Masters in his home country and also has finishes of fourth, seventh and 11th.

He joined the Challenge Tour in 2015 and finished 31st and 32nd in the order of merit in his first two years.

He played in 16 European Tour events in 2017 with partial status and earned more than 136,000 euros but did not retain status for 2018.

At CCU, Soderberg has CCU’s third-best career scoring average (73.45) and is tied for third in wins, rounds of par or better, birdies and eagles among Coastal’s all-time leaders. As a senior in 2013, he was named All-American and Big South Golfer of the Year.

He led Coastal to Big South championships and NCAA regional appearances in both 2010 and ’13, advanced to the 2011 NCAA Championship, participated as an individual in the 2012 NCAA Athens Regional, and is one of three Chants in program history to be a three-time All-Big South selection.