Twenty-three professional golfers of great projection -thirteen women and twelve men-, some of them protagonists of very good results in the different Circuits despite their obvious youth, integrate the Pro Spain Team 2020 Program, an initiative of the RFEG, in collaboration with the Autonomous Federations, which aims to train and help elite golf players in their first years in the professional field.
The list of golfers selected by the RFEG Professionals Committee to be part of the Pro Spain Team 2020 Program constitutes a record of support to Spanish professional golf , equaling the number -the aforementioned twenty-three- that also occurred in the promotion of 2018.
The list of members of this Pro Spain Team Program includes, in the men’s category, Mario Galiano, Iván Cantero, Ángel Hidalgo, Manuel Elvira, Javier Sainz, Pep Anglés, Santiago Tarrío, Scott Fernández, David Borda -all of them already selected in the 2019 Pro Spain Team Program promotion- and the new additions of Víctor Pastor, Mario Beltrán and Sebastián García, who returns to the Program after being part of the promotions from 2013 to 2015. The following have dropped out of the program for 2019 Emilio Cuartero and Daniel Berná.
In addition, in the women’s category, Nuria Iturrios, Marta Sanz, Harang Lee, Noemí Jiménez, Silvia Bañón, María Parra, Elia Folch, Luna Sobrón, Fátima Fernández, Laura Gómez and Marta Martín are part of the Pro Spain Team 2020 Program, the last two newcomers with respect to 2019, being Patricia Sanz who has dropped out.
In total, a uniform group of golfers, all of them characterized by an outstanding career, who have in 2020 a help that facilitates their transition from the amateur stage and makes possible a faster incorporation to the most important Professional Circuits.
It should be noted that in the present group of members of the Pro Spain Team 2020 there is a golfer with a card in the LPGA, Nuria Iturrios. The Balearic golfer will combine presence in the LET along with eight other players. Special mention should also be made of the presence of six Spaniards on the Symetra Tour, demonstrating their firm commitment to continuing their careers in the United States.
Meanwhile, in the men’s category, there is one golfer with a card on the European Tour -Sebastián García, protagonist of an outstanding 2019-, five on the Challenge Tour -Scott Fernández, Pep Anglés, Iván Cantero, David Borda and Santiago Tarrío-, two on the PGA Latinoamericano -Mario Galiano and Mario Beltrán- and four on the Alps Tour.
Eleven editions of a successful program
Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the RFEG, welcomed those present to the event with a passionate defense of the program. “This is one of the most emotional presentations, because we are talking about pure and hard sport. This program is made with great enthusiasm. We believed in it from the very first moment and we continue to support it with the same enthusiasm,” he proclaimed.
“The objective has always been to help our young professionals to be the best they can be, and we do it with technical assistance of different kinds and with invitations to tournaments of the different Circuits. We only ask the boys and girls to represent Spanish golf with dignity”, said the President of the RFEG.
Gonzaga Escauriaza gave the floor to Lola Tello, who in her role as Sports Technician of the Superior Sports Council gave “the most effusive congratulations to the RFEG for maintaining a magnificent program that we are trying to transfer to other Federations”.
“I ask the athletes to value this program, because it is a great success. There is Carlota Ciganda, Nacho Elvira, Azahara Muñoz, Adrián Otaegui… who started here and look where they are now. I encourage you not to let this train pass you by and take advantage of it,” he concluded.
For his part, Jaime Salaverri, First Vice President and President of the RFEG Professionals Committee, stressed that “this program was born with the intention of facilitating the transition from amateur to professional golf. We saw how it was done in Italy and Holland and we set it in motion. It was born in 2010 with a budget of 129,000 euros and we are already at 352,000, a figure that speaks of how important it is for us”.
Ignacio Elvira: “I am a clear example of what the Pro Spain Team is”.
Few players represent so clearly what the ten years of life of the Pro Spain Team have been like as Ignacio Elvira, currently a benchmark for young Spanish golfers. His presence at the press conference responded to his desire to support an initiative that was key in its beginnings. Not in vain he was five years in the Pro Spain Team with remarkable results.
“I can say that I am the clear example of what the Program is. When I became a pro I didn’t even know what a Tour category was, that’s for sure. I had no Circuit to play in and I was very lost. And thanks to the invitations, step by step I have been making a place for myself in professional golf until I reached the Tour. You have to think that the player goes from being a well-supported amateur to being a lonely rookie. We were lost in those first months, because although it was the same sport, it was a completely different life”, explained Nacho Elvira.
The fifteen ‘Pro Spain Team’ players who attended the event took good note of these experiences, among them Sebastián García, this season’s debutant on the European Tour. The player from Madrid was already in the Program for three years, left and has returned this year.
For him, “having facilities to work in, enjoying the Center of Excellence and having fiscal and technical assistance” is fundamental. “I already had the opportunity to be part of the Program at the time and I can say that the invitations are more important than the economic aid,” argued the golfer from Madrid.
Representing the female group of the Program, Laura Gómez from Malaga was very explicit: “My reference and idol is Azahara Muñoz and I want to follow in her footsteps to build a career similar to hers. Being in the Pro Spain Team is one of them. It is an unconditional support for which I will be eternally grateful,” she said.
Financial, training and management assistance
All the members of the Pro Spain Team 2020 benefit from a Program that establishes financial aid – depending on the Circuit they usually play -, training – evaluation by TPI technicians, physical trainers, etc. – and management – invitations to tournaments, search for sponsors -. They can also use the Golf Center of Excellence located in the practice area of the National Center, a model facility that is at the forefront of world golf.
It should be noted that, in return for the technical and financial assistance provided, the selected players undertake, among other things, to dedicate several days to RFEG initiatives (ProAms, concentrations of the national amateur teams, etc.), as well as, in the future, to participate in the Spanish Open or Spanish Professional Championships whenever their obligations allow them to do so.
Azahara Muñoz, Carlota Ciganda, Jorge Campillo, Ignacio Elvira, Adrián Otaegui, Borja Virto, Pedro Oriol or Adriá Arnaus, to name a few examples, are a clear example of sporting projection from their training at the grassroots level to their inclusion in a Program that this year has among its members golfers who are already achieving very good results in the different Professional Circuits.
The selected professional golfers will receive the aid provided for in the Pro Spain Team Program -which they return partially or totally depending on their income in the different Circuits- after signing an Agreement in which they commit to collaborate with the RFEG (and in its case the Autonomous Federation that supports them) in different initiatives. The external name of the group is Pro Spain Team 2020.
PRO SPAIN TEAM MEMBERS
2020 Promotion
Nuria Iturrios, Marta Sanz, Harang Lee, Noemí Jiménez, Silvia Bañón, Laura Gómez, María Parra, Elia Folch, Marta Martín, Luna Sobrón, Fátima Fernández, Sebastián García, Mario Galiano, Iván Cantero, Ángel Hidalgo, Manuel Elvira, Víctor Pastor, Javier Sainz, Pep Anglés, Santiago Tarrío, Scott Fernández, David Borda and Mario Beltrán.
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