Golf now, then and in the future
College golf
Maia has competed two years for Charlotte University in North Carolina, a NCAA division I school in Conference USA.
During the season 2022-23, her best finish was a second place at the Georgia State Invitational, after tying a school-record with a final round 66 (-6). Her stroke average was 74.96 and she posted seven rounds at par or better.
As a redshirt freshman and her first year at Charlotte Universtity in 2021-22, Maia was elected to the Conference USA Second Team. Her stroke average was 74.57 with nine rounds at par or better. She started her career for the Niners with a school record of -8, after rounds of 70-69-69 at Sam Golden Invitational in Texas. She also posted the team's best individual round of the year with a 67 (-5) shots, at the Ironwood Invitational.
Maia had a really successful freshman year at Jacksonville University, Florida, a NCAA Division I school in the ASUN conference. She received the honor Female Freshman Athlete of the Year, called New Fin Award. She won her first collegiate tournament, Kiawah Island Classic, after a final round of 66. The competition was the largest women’s college event with a total of 264 participants from 53 teams. Maia was also the youngest player in the field. With the score 74, 69 and 66, she added her names to the history books of Jacksonville University with records for lowest round (-6), lowest total score after 54 holes (-7) and number of birdies in one round (8) and the youngest golfer to win a competition. During the Kiawah Island Classic, Maia recorded her first course record at Tom Fazio’s Osprey Point, which she later followed up by four more course records during the summer of 2020. She played in all seven tournaments as a freshman and had the best team scoring average of 74.86 in 21 rounds. Maia was also elected ASUN Golfer of the Week.
Junior golf
Maia has won several junior events. She is currently ranked as #4 of all female golfers born in 2002 or younger in Sweden. She is a member in the Swedish Golf Team and represented Sweden in Interantional French Ladies Trophée Cécile De Rothschid. She has been selected as one of nine girls to participate in the national team camps in La Manga, Spain. Maia likes to compete and played more than 30 tournaments this year on the Swedish junior circuits SkandiaTour and Junior Masters Invitational, Srixon Junior Tour in Norway, Drive and Torneio do Circuito in Portugal. She has played in junior events in Spain, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden. For updated information and statistics, please see the page with tournament statistics.
Goals
She has several golf related goals, and one is to one day play professional golf. However, now her focus is to continue play college golf in the United States and to find a golf team where she can win competitions and excel as a golfer and person. One of her dreams came true as she was chosen to represent Sweden at the European Team Championship for girls during the summer of 2020, where they captured the silver medal. Maia is hoping to continue developing as a golfer, and to be selected to play more international championships in the future.
All golfers in the family
Maia is the daughter of Katharina Samuelsson and Peter Samuelsson, both professional golfers and members of PGA Sweden. Katharina Samuelsson played college golf for NCAA division I schools Lamar University and University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Katharina Samuelsson was elected into the University of Tennessee Lady Vol Hall of Fame in 2010. Katharina received various honors during her college years as SEC Golfer of the Year, Top 10 Finalist NCAA Woman of the Year, Athlete of the Year, All-American, First SEC Team and First Team Sun Belt Conference. Maia's parents have both played professional golf on various tours and worked as Head Professionals five different golf clubs in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Since 2008, they are both working full-time with their travel agency for golfers. Maia's grandparents, and almost all other relatives, play golf as well.
Coaches
Maia has been fortunate to have several great coaches, in addition to her parents. Besides the excellent team of coaches working for the Swedish Golf Federation, her coach in Portugal is José Ferreira at Quinta do Lago golf academy. In Sweden, Maia is coached by Fredrik Eliasson, the professional at Karlstad golfklubb. As a junior, she was coached by Anna Dahlberg Söderström at Kumla golfklubb, Neil Connolly at Golf Integrated Academy and Joaquim Sequeira at Clube de Golfe de Vilamoura. She has also had lessons from Mike Shannon at TPC Sawgrass, Dr. Craig Farnsworth in Palm Desert and many more fantastic golf instructors.
Golf when Maia was younger
Maia received her first golf club just a few days after being born, and she got her first Foot Joy golf shoes at her baptism. Occasionally, she received golf lessons from her parents and played nine holes. She did attend a few golf classes with PGA pro Peter Ballingall in El Rompido and played some junior events on the Pequecirqito tour in Spain. However, she was never really interested in golf until the summer of 2015, when she won the Jonas Blixt Invitational for junior golfers in Sweden. Her focus quickly changed from gymnastics to golf, and within a few months, she became a passionate golfer. Maia participated in junior golf competitions almost every weekend during the summers that she spend in Sweden. She became a member of Karlstad golfklubb junior team , and practiced regularly with her team mates. In Portugal, Maia first joined Carvoeiro golf club, then changed to Clube de Golf Vilamoura in order to join their junior program for boys and later changed to Quinta do Lago, when they established their golf academy for girls and a women’s golf team.
Other interests
During her younger years, Maia competed in rhythmic gymnastics for Club de Gimnasia Rítmica de Huelva. Maia is working out and doing weight training to build strength and endurance. She also attends advanced yoga classes, for flexibility and stamina. Besides sports, Maia likes to bake. Her favorites include carrot cake, Pavlova and Budapest. Maia likes dogs, and has helped rescue several homeless dogs in Spain. She is an experienced traveler, and has lived in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. She has visited most western European countries, and her favorite cities in Europe are Sevilla, Amsterdam, Prague and Oslo. Before starting college in the USA, she had vacationed in Florida, California, New York and Tennessee. She has been to South Africa and Mexico and enjoys meeting people from different backgrounds, religions and cultures.
Education
College education
Maia is currently enrolled at Charlotte University and will soon graduate with a Bachelors of Arts in Commmunications. She holds a 3.92 GPA of has received several honors for academic excellence. Maia plans to spend one or two more years as a student-athlete studying design, sustainability and art while playing collegiate golf.
After her Freshman year at Jacksonville University, Maia had a 4.0 GPA and received the academic honors NCAA All-American and JU Dean’s List for academic excellence. Maia is taking a wide variety of classes from accounting to music appreciation, and hope to find a major where she can combine her favorite subjects math, science and art.
High school, middle school and elementary school
Due to the early school start and the rigorous educational program in Spain, Maia graduated from high school before her 17th birthday. She has excelled academically and always achieved extraordinary academic results. Maia graduated from International Connections Academy, an American online high school, in the spring of 2019 with a GPA of 4.27. Her GPA was above a perfect 4.0, as she completed the Spanish AP exam, a college level course, and other honors courses. Maia started high school at Forest Trail Academy, where her GPA was 4.0 on a scale from 1 to 4. Maia started school already when she was three years old in Islantilla, Spain. She later changed to Attendis Colegio Bilingüe Tierrallana, a private school for girls in the city of Huelva, Spain, where she studied until 2015. She held a GPA of 9.4 on a 1 to 10 scale and received Mención Especial for academic excellence.
Interesting facts
Maia is trilingual. She speaks fluent Spanish, English and Swedish. She has lived in Norway, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden.