OWGR: Part III of the Obscure Countries Top Ranked Golfers

Poland

Poland lists 25 golfers in the OWGR. In pole position is world No. 249 Adrian Meronk.

He’s one of two from the nation of 38 million inside the top 1,000. Former college teammate No. 826 Mateusz Gradecik Is the other.

Meronk’s best days could still be ahead of him as the 26-year-old was just beginning his rookie season on the European Tour in 2020.

Starting with his early days, the Wroclaw native was No. 1 in the World Junior Golf Rankings in 2011. He was the first Polish player to appear in the Palmer Cup for the European side. Meronk won three matches there, including twice against Maverick McNealy. Once in team play with Pep Angles against Beau Hossler and McNealy, and again in singles.

Meronk was a four-year standout at East Tennessee State University. Literally, he stood out, at 6-foot-5. He won five collegiate events and was an All-American as a senior.

Meronk graduated in 2016 and turned pro later that year.

He qualified for the Challenge Tour in 2017 via Q School. Meronk finished 30th on the Order of Merit thanks to a runner-up finish at the Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge.

It wasn’t quite enough to earn European Tour status, but it was a promising hope for his country’s top talent to date.

Meronk closed the 2018 season strong and only had five missed cuts all year, but it as back to the Challenge Tour again in 2019.

That’s when he won the Open de Portugal and had nine top-10s to finally crack the top 15 to advance to the European Tour.

It was a historic feat, as he became the first Polish player to earn membership on the tour.

Like Greg Snow from Kenya, Meronk also wrote a player blog for the European Tour in November.

Some interesting nuggets include how he found the game and success at a young age, learning English to come over to play college golf in the US and being congratulated by fellow Polish sports pros on his European Tour membership.

Meronk’s 2020 European Tour debut was cut short after six events. He made three cuts, including a personal best T-27 at the Saudi International.

GOLF IN POLAND

Meronk accurately portrayed in his player blog that there aren’t many golf courses in Poland. Golf Advisor lists 51 of them, many of which are nine holes.

Sand Valley Golf & Country Club appears to be the cream of the crop. It was voted No. 1 in the country and No. 82 in continental Europe by World Golf Awards.

The Polish Golf Union was founded in 1993.

In 2018, there were 5,678 registered golfers in Poland.

Harsh winters make for a limited golf season on land that isn’t overly interesting topographically. With that said, there’s land for more courses to sprout up if interest continues to grow in a relatively new sport to the region.

Perhaps Meronk will play a hand in golf’s popularity in his homeland.