When, after having unsuccessfully logged on to the world ranking website over and over again, the page was finally updated, Maria could not believe her eyes: she had become number 2 in the world. She thought she could have climbed a dozen places at the most and hopefully reached the eighth position.
But luck smiled on the young golfer from Cadiz.
At the age of 17 he saw the reward of many hours, days, months and years of effort and of having been able to channel his natural talent for golf with teachers who have been able to properly direct his technical steps.
A resident of Guadiaro, a hamlet in the municipality of San Roque, birthplace of many renowned golfers, María Parra enjoys a dream that could be even more pleasant and lasting if she had been able to access an American university this year. The leap to the other side of the Atlantic, where the best amateurs enjoy many more possibilities to forge a good future as professionals, will have to wait until Maria reaches a higher level of English, which is required there to enter university life. While that time comes, the spirited Maria continues to train hard under the guidance of a teacher -Juan Antonio Marin, from the SIGA Sotogrande golf academy- who is squeezing the most out of the extraordinary golfing qualities of his pupil.
Maria, born December 4, 1997, began to carve out her golfing future when she was just 6 years old, when she asked her little brother, six years older and who played golf in La Cañada, to let her try to see what golf was all about. He took a club and on his first try he hit the ball more or less well. She got the bug and her grandfather, who was working at the RCG Sotogrande for 40 years but did not play golf, began to take her daily to La Cañada. The little brat stood out immediately and began to win championships in Andalusia and Spain. Four years ago she won a SIGA qualifying tournament, was awarded a scholarship and has been under his sporting ‘jurisdiction’ ever since. “And I am very happy.”
In 2013 he moved to the capital of Spain to join the Blume National School of Golf, a high performance sports center. There she has remained for two years. “It was a great opportunity for me to be able to enter,” says Maria, who has words of thanks both for the teachers she had in Madrid and for those who helped her train beforehand.
“I have learned a lot here thanks to Juan Antonio (Marín), Antonio Arjona, Sonia (both from La Cañada), to all the teachers I have had here. With Juan Antonio I have learned a lot. When I started at SIGA with him I had a 6 handicap and in one year I managed to lower my handicap to 0. At the Blume I have also learned a lot with all the teachers: Marta Figueras, Kiko Luna, Salva Luna… The psychologist Óscar del Río and the physical trainer Paco Fernández have also helped me a lot to improve in the competition.
-You are having an exceptional year of triumphs….
-Yes, the truth is that it has been a very good year, I am very happy. I won the Andalusia Cup, the Valencia Cup, the European Championship for teams under 18, the European Women’s Individual Championship and the Spanish Championship under 18.
-What has your rise to number 2 in the world ranking meant for you?
-At the beginning of the year I was ranked 19th and when I won the European Championships I thought I was going to go up, but not that high. I thought I would be between eighth and tenth, and it was a surprise because I was all day looking at the ranking to see if it was updated, and when I finally saw that I was number two in the world I did not believe it, but it was the most important championship in Europe and therefore scored a lot. It was incredible. I had been with Juan Antonio (her trainer) the whole year saying that I had to get to be number one.
-What are your chances of reaching the top of the world ranking, what would you have to win to get there?
-It is quite difficult because the number one is in the United States and there the championships score much more. This year it’s impossible for me to achieve it because she’s 25 points ahead of me and that’s a lot. There if you finish top 10 in a championship you can have the same score as if you win a tournament here. It is very difficult.
-What are your most immediate plans?
-I have the Junior Solheim and then a championship in Texas, and then I want to study something, but I still don’t know what, I have no idea, I have to think about it very well. The problem is that I can’t do the Selectividad because it coincides with an important championship in Germany. I don’t know if I would enter a higher module or maybe I will spend the whole year studying English and next year I will prepare for the Selectividad. I wanted to go to the United States this year, I had university and everything, but you have to pass an English exam, the SAT, and they ask for a very high level, I have taken the exams a couple of times but I haven’t made it. So maybe I will study to prepare myself and try in September 2016 to go to an American unversity.
-What about your move to professionalism?
-I think I will turn professional in two years, at the end of next year or early next year. If I manage to go to America I would continue for a couple more years as an amateur because it’s easier to be an amateur than a pro there while you’re in college, and when I finish my studies I would go pro.
-Staying in Europe limits a lot the possibilities for a professional golfer who wants to succeed at a high international level…
-Quite a lot. The best thing is to play in America, but if I can’t, I’ll try on the European Tour.
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