The RFGA honors its most outstanding athletes of the 2017 season.

The Royal Andalusian Golf Federation has held the traditional Awards Ceremony, which every year serves as a well-deserved tribute and recognition to all those who in one way or another have had an outstanding role in the promotion, dissemination and development of Andalusian golf.

The event was held at the headquarters of the Royal Andalusian Federation in Malaga and was attended by a large representation of the main protagonists of our sport. This event is nothing more than a reflection of the extraordinary state of health that Andalusian golf enjoys at the moment, not only at the forefront of sport, but also economically and touristically, in what has been the first year of Pablo Mansilla as president of the institution.

Precisely, Pablo Mansilla emphasized in the Ordinary General Assembly prior to the awards ceremony that “the overall balance has been very positive. We have had excellent results in sports and we have once again demonstrated the high level of our players in national and international competitions. We have also been proud that Andalusia has hosted major professional tournaments -which, once again, have allowed us to show our golf tourist destination to the world- such as the Andalusia Alps, the Andalucía Costa del Sol Challenge Match Play 9, the Open de España Femenino and the Andalucía Valderrama Masters. On the other hand, it seems that this year we have already reached a turning point in the decrease of licenses, and we hope to start growing again in the number of members from next year”.

The recovery of licenses is one of the priority objectives for 2018. “We have to continue working in this sense, to make golf faster, simpler, more accessible to all, as we set ourselves almost a year ago now, at the beginning of the legislature. In this sense, children and young people, the future of the sport, are one of the main points as far as golf promotion is concerned. They are the basis of programs that have worked very well and on which we will continue to insist and improve, such as ‘Golf Joven’, ‘Golf en los Colegios’ and the ‘Friends Cup’,” explained Mansilla.

As for the recognitions made in the Honors Ceremony, probably one of the most emotional moments of the evening was when, at the beginning of the gala, Pablo Mansilla announced that, from this coming year 2018, the Andalusian Mid Amateur Championship will bear the name of Miguel Preysler de la Riva, whom he remembered as ” a great player and a great person who has left us recently. Gold Medal of this Real Federación Andaluza de Golf, and that kind of person we all think of when we imagine what a golf player should be like”.

In sports, Andalusia has again brought important successes, among others, the victory of the Andalusian team in the Interautonomic Championship of Spain U18, composed of Gonzalo Leal, Felipe Barrena, Victor Jimenez, Lukas Pany, Pedro Marin and Pablo Carrascosa; or the triumphs in international competitions of our youngest players, some of them with a strong feminine accent, like those of Ana Peláez (NCAA Columbus Regional), Tere Toscano (Jackrabitt Invitational Woman) or Mimí Rhodes (Scottish Girls Championship).There was also no lack of victories, usual every year, in the major professional circuits. Azahara Muñoz won the Spanish Open for the second consecutive year at the Guadalmina course (Málaga), Miguel Ángel Jiménez won at the Missisippi Gulf Resort of the PGA Tour Champions and Álvaro Quirós won again on the European Tour six years later, by winning the Rocco Forte Verdura Open.

In addition, as every year, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation has delivered its highest distinctions -Medals and Plaques of Merit in Golf- to those individuals and institutions that, by unanimous decision of its Board of Directors, wanted to recognize their work in favor of the sport of Andalusian golf, either for sporting merit or for their commitment to the promotion and development of our sport.

Thus, Manuel Cardeña -CEO of Acosol, water company under the Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Costa del Sol West-, has collected from the hands of Pablo Mansilla the Plaque of Merit in Golf, in recognition of its support for sustainable tourism and its involvement in the management of water resources, making the Costa del Sol in leading destination in integrated water use. In this regard, precisely last Wednesday, December 20, the first study was presented that has been conducted within the Golf Observatory of the University of Malaga, under the Chair of Golf, and has had the collaboration and sponsorship of the Commonwealth of Municipalities of the Costa del Sol West and its water company, Acosol.

For his part, Vicente Pitarch, founder of Lauro Golf (Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga), has also received the Plaque of Merit in Golf in gratitude for the work that -during the 25 years that the club has just completed the Pitarch family and all those who have been and are part of Lauro Golf have done in favor of Andalusian golf, becoming a model in its commitment to children and youth golf and the promotion of the sport in general.

As for the Medals of Merit in Golf, Ángel Hidalgo from Malaga and Víctor Pastor from Cordoba -player of the University Golf Program Málaga- have been distinguished with this highest recognition awarded by the federation, after having signed both an excellent season, adding to his record -among other triumphs- the Absolute European Team Championship, together with the Spanish team. Víctor, in addition, was proclaimed European University Champion in September, both individual and team, together with Ana Mª Cabello, also a player of the University of Málaga.

For his part, José María Zamora has been rewarded for the work he has developed and continues to develop as an international referee and from the different positions he has held on the European Tour, including Tournament Director and Deputy Director of the Challenge Tour.

The night ended with the presentation of the Medal of Merit in Golf to Juan Jimenez Rodriguez “el Pecas”. The older brother of Miguel Angel Jimenez has been recognized for his life’s work dedicated to the sport of golf, from the field of teaching. When he was only 11 years old, Juan had his first contact with golf at the Parador de Málaga, where he later began working as a caddy at the Real Club de Campo de Málaga. Most of his professional career as a teacher has been developed in Torrequebrada and, since 2015, he is dedicated exclusively to teaching at Miguel Angel Jimenez Golf Academy, where he holds the position of Sports Director.