He would have liked to study physiotherapy and nutrition, but the demands of attending many practical classes would have prevented him from dedicating the necessary time to his great passion: golf.
Marbella’s Noemí Jiménez Martín has just finished her third year of studies in Tourism and Business at Arizona State University, the studies she finally opted for. Now she is resting -that is to say, because she trains more than ever- in Marbella and analyzes her summer competition calendar, after which she will return to Uncle Sam’s country to face her last university course.
See you at the Real Club de Golf Guadalmina, where the previous Sunday, after leading the tournament until the last day, she had lost the Spanish Women’s Championship to Camila Hedberg in a heart-stopping finish. Not in vain, the player from Barcelona even matched the eagle that Noemí had just holed on the 17th and ended up winning by two strokes.
“You learn from victories, but from defeats, much more”, says our interlocutor. Her spirit of self-improvement, her optimism in the face of adversity, is a psychological asset that surely helps her to face such a demanding sport as golf with such success.
Noemi is not just any golfer, no. She is one of the great promises of Spanish golf. She is one of the great promises of Spanish golf. She has an impressive resume, with nine top-10s and two victories last year in the American college league and six top-ten in this year’s league, including a great individual victory in the Wst Regionals. To see her quality, nothing better than to look at the women’s amateur world ranking, where she is ranked thirteenth.
His love affair with golf began “seriously” at the age of 6 with his father, Antonio. And he stresses the word “serious” because since he was one year old he was already trying to imitate his father, a great golf fan, using mop sticks and Christmas ornament balls to make his first swings.
Given the interest of the brat, her father began to take her, at the age of 6, to a golf school, El Angel was then called. A well-known Marbella pro, Manuel Cabanillas, began to give her lessons, but soon after it was her father, at that time a golf instructor, who was in charge of shaping his daughter’s talent.
Noemí remembers her first victory. “It was in the Pequecircuito in Coto de la Serena (Estepona). I was very happy and it was very exciting for me”.
The girl was a fast learner and excelled even faster. So much so that at the age of 8 she was already competing in her first Spanish Championship. In her next appearance in that tournament she was runner-up and after that came many competitions and triumphs at regional and national level.
Her international career began in her teens. She was 14 years old when she was called up for Spanish matches against Portugal and France. From the age of 15 she was a regular member of the national teams competing in major European tournaments.
And then came the great leap to the other side of the Atlantic.
-What has it meant for you to go to the United States?
-It has been a dream I always wanted to fulfill. My role model was Azahara (Muñoz, also trained at RCG Guadalmina), who went to the university where I am studying. For me it was a dream to go there, to make my career, to carry out my studies, and all that without my parents having to pay for the university. Also to become a little more independent, to get to know the world and because there, above all, the doors are very open.
-What have you learned about golf at your university?
-There is a golf team of girls and boys and each one has a coach and an assistant. They are basically dedicated more to the manager type, to take us to the sites, to the strategies, to teach us how to play a tournament in an almost professional way, how to play some holes… In technical terms there is practically nothing because we are supposed to arrive there with a good training. They don’t tell you anything, unless someone specifically asks the coach to look at her swing because she doesn’t feel confident.
-You have only one year left to finish your studies and then you will have to consider your professional future. Are you sure about what you are going to do?
-I’ve been thinking about it. On the one hand, I obviously want to graduate, but my goal, my plan A, although I’m a little scared because I don’t know what will happen, is to stay in the United States and try to play the American Tour. I would go back (to Spain) in the summer to play amateur tournaments and then in August I would go to the United States to try the Q-School (the qualifying school for the LPGA Tour, the American Women’s Tour). If I pass, I would stay there to live, probably in Florida because it is relatively closer to home, I have my coach here in Spain. If not, plan B is that I would have to go back to Europe and try the European Tour because what I want to do primarily is golf. If something unexpected happens, such as an injury, God forbid, I would either study another career, something I really like (Physiotherapy and Nutrition), but that would be plan C.
-Other Spaniards who have stayed in the United States to pursue a career as professionals are having different fortunes. There are the cases, for example, of two girls who were exceptional amateurs: Azahara Muñoz, who is triumphing, and Carlota Ciganda, who has not taken off…
-It is always difficult to go from amateur to professional and many things can happen. In Carlota’s case it may be a problem of adaptation, her family is in Spain, she is far from home, there is a very different kind of life, she also studied in America but wanted to go pro and did not finish the career, I heard that she wanted to have the coach always close because she is a person who relies heavily on the coach, and partly I understand it because so much time without a coach at the end the swing goes a little and you have to always have someone there who is watching you …. But, well, it’s her first year in the LPGA, and the first year is always a year of adaptation, and then it’s when you start to reap triumphs.
-Your first year in the United States didn’t go very well either, but the second year you had 11 top-10 finishes, and this year you also had great results?
-The first year I took it as an experience, as teaching, and the second and third years I was more settled and more comfortable.
-Does the fame of extreme dedication to golf that South Korean women golfers playing in the United States have, correspond to reality?
-Yes, they train a lot and have a super high level of discipline. And, of course, golf is based on training, training with quality, obviously, because if you train many hours without any kind of objective, it is useless.
-What memories do you have of this club, of Guadalmina?
-Very nice. For me, it has always been my club, I am very happy with all the people here, in the Spanish Championship many came to support me and it was something super special and super nice. I am very fond of this club, because since I was a little girl, if my parents couldn’t, they paid for all my trips… I am very grateful to them.
We finish the interview and, after the photo session, Noemí heads to the tee to start a new, hard and at the same time pleasant training session. She has many holes left to play… and an exciting and hopefully happy life ahead of her.
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