Celia Barquín, omnipresent in the hearts of all components of Spanish golf, was the center of attention at the 2018 Spanish Golf Gala, which for the fourth consecutive year has hosted the headquarters of the Spanish Olympic Committee.
The Spanish golf family has paid tribute to the great winners of the season, all of them protagonists of an unforgettable year, as well as to several people who have made a special contribution to the development of this sport in our country.
However, in the center of all, acting as a beacon, radiating the glow of deserved affection and permanent remembrance, was the figure of Celia Barquín, the object of a warm, heartfelt and well-deserved tribute that completely covered the entire development of the 2018 Spanish Golf Gala.
Their parents, Marcos and Miriam, received twice, from an auditorium filled with almost 400 people standing, the tremendous affection of the Spanish golf family for all of them.
On the first occasion, Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the RFEG, posthumously presented them with the Gold Medal for Merit in Golf that his daughter had already deserved after winning the European Individual Absolute Championship with great brilliance last summer, while at the end of the Gala it was Alejandro Blanco, President of the COE, who offered all his affection during the presentation of the Olympic Medal of the COE.
“She will always be in our hearts,” said both presidents in the two most intense moments of a Spanish Golf Gala 2018 that became from the first moment an expression of affection for Celia Barquín and her entire family.
Time for tribute and recognition
The 2018 Spanish Golf Gala also served to express recognition to the group of people who have left us throughout the year due to various circumstances, with special mention for the aforementioned Celia Barquín, Emma Villacieros, Cristina Marsans, Manuel Beamonte and Ricardo Goytre.
During the ceremony, the Medals and Plaques for Merit in Golf were also awarded, a total of nine awards in the Gold category to Celia Barquín, Mar Ruiz de la Torre, María Acacia López-Bachiller, José Manuel Jiménez and Salvador Cuyas.
Consuelo Díaz, Silver Medal of Merit in Golf, and representatives of the Joaquín Blume Residence, You First Sports and Escorpión Golf Club, to collect in their case the Plaque of Merit in Golf, were also protagonists of the 2018 Spanish Golf Gala.
Dozens of sports awards
On a purely sporting level, trophies were presented in recognition of the dozens of golfers who have achieved international triumphs throughout 2018, both in amateur and professional competitions.
In the first case it is necessary to highlight the high number of medals won in various team competitions, such as bronze and silver in the World Championships for Absolute and Junior Men; gold and silver in the European Under 18 Men’s and Women’s Championships; silver at the European Under 16; silver and bronze at the European Senior Men’s and Women’s Championships; silver and bronze at the European Club Men’s and Women’s Championships; gold at the Moroccan International Under 18 Mixed; bronze at the Evian Championship Juniors Cup…
In addition, Spanish amateur golf has added individual victories of relevance – Carlos de Corral’s victory in the Mid Amateur European Championship; Macarena Campomanes’ in the Senior Women’s Individual European Championship; Marta Garcia’s in the French Junior Women’s International Championship; Juan Postigo’s in the Adapted Golf Individual European Championship; Raúl Toca and Jaime Herrera’s in the Pitch & Putt Doubles World Championship… -, which is why its protagonists took the podium.
And, as it could not be otherwise, tribute was paid to the professional golfers who have made 2018 a spectacular year in terms of quantity and quality of titles.
No less than twenty-two Spaniards have lifted the winner’s trophy in tournaments of the different Professional Tours throughout a spectacular season, headed by the ‘four tenors’, Sergio García, Jon Rahm, Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, a simply sensational sum of successes to which Adrián Otaegui, Santiago Luna, Pedro Oriol, Scott Fernández, Mario Galiano, Iván Cantero, Álvaro Velasco, David Borda, Santiago Tarrío, Alfredo García Heredia, Alejandro Cañizares, Adriá Arnaus, Marta Sanz, Patricia Sanz, Natalia Escuriola, Elia Folch, Noemí Jiménez and Carmen Alonso also contributed.
All of them, either in person or through images projected on the screen, once again demonstrated the quality of their actions, which were rewarded with continuous applause, with special mention for the endearing words addressed by Alejandro Blanco, President of the COE, to all the teachers and professionals of Spanish golf as a whole, to whom he paid tribute in a vibrant speech in which he highlighted their fundamental role in the training of sportsmen and women of all ages.
Leave a Reply