<\/p>\n
There are certain golf clubs that stand out for the number of exceptional players they produce in their schools and academies. Royal Guadalmina Golf Club is, without a doubt, one of them. The foundations of the club\u2019s golf academy were laid in 1994, under the baton of Guadalmina professional Francisco Hern\u00e1ndez N\u00fa\u00f1ez. <\/p>\n
Thanks in great part to their time at the academy, the first students have become responsible adults and accomplished sportsmen and women, with many going on to earn a living as golf professionals.<\/p>\n
In fact, in an initiative promoted by the current academy manager, Castor G\u00f3mez, every December since 2010 a pro-am has been held involving the academy\u2019s young golfers, with the distinctive aspect being that the professionals are former students \u2013 including Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, Manuel Quir\u00f3s, Daniel and Juan Carlos Osorio, Sergio and Nacho Guti\u00e9rrez Oneto, \u00c1ngel Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez, Francisco Hern\u00e1ndez, Manuel Araujo, Rub\u00e9n Holgado, Salva Ruiz, David Menc\u00eda, Ricardo and Patrick Simard, Laura Cabanillas\u2026<\/p>\n
After Francisco Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s retirement, his position was taken over by Castor G\u00f3mez who, together with his team of professionals, Rub\u00e9n Holgado, Salva Ruiz and David Menc\u00eda, has responsibility for developing the academy\u2019s activities and teaching more than 120 junior members of Royal Guadalmina Golf Club.<\/p>\n
These activities include classes for all the students, held on Saturdays, technical classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, camps during the holidays, monthly championships, rules teaching courses, physical and psychological preparation, and organized trips coordinated by the coaching staff to championships and bonding events, such as the annual excursion to a water park.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thanks to the club\u2019s high educational levels, every year students from the club make it into the top rankings and championships around Andaluc\u00eda and Spain.<\/p>\n
This year alone, the results have been particularly spectacular: British boys champion, five national champions (three from Spain and two from Austria), a Spanish runner-up, and seven Andalucian champions \u2013 three of them in the main open category.<\/p>\n
In team competitions, in June Guadalmina was the champion and runner-up in the Andalucian interclubs men\u2019s championship held in Granada, and at the start of September once again champion and runner-up in the Andalucian interclubs \u201ccadete\u201d and \u201cinfantil\u201d junior championships at Lauro Golf.<\/p>\n
So what is the secret of this success, we asked Marc Mueller-Baumgart, a member of the board of directors, with responsibility for the juniors section.<\/p>\n
\u2013 There\u2019s no secret formula. It has involved many years of organised work by the club\u2019s former and current managers, many hours on the practice range for the students and a lot of dedication by parents, taking their children to classes and championships. <\/p>\n
Thanks to all that, the Guadalmina academy has many strengths, including the large number of students of all ages who are motivated by each other, professionals who have trained at the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) and who follow a very advanced teaching method, and modern teaching technology such as Flightscope.<\/p>\n
In addition, like all the other members, they can use the club\u2019s fantastic amenities, including two 18-hole courses and one pitch & putt layout, practice areas, a gymnasium, a pool and soon a children\u2019s room.<\/p>\n
\u2014 What are the academy\u2019s objectives?<\/p>\n
\u2013 The objectives are very simple. On the one hand, to pass on to youngsters the values of competitive sport. Values such as the importance of constant effort and of patience, humility in victory and lessons learned in defeat, and respect for the rules and other players. Values that enhance their self-esteem and help in their development as respectful and respected people in all aspects of their lives. <\/p>\n
And on the other hand, we also want to boost golf\u2019s popularity among young people in general and especially our neighbours in San Pedro de Alc\u00e1ntara, Marbella and the whole Costa del Sol.<\/p>\n
\u2013 So what do you do to achieve that?<\/p>\n
\u2013 The foundation is weekly classes on Saturdays and the academy\u2019s monthly competitions. Then other competitions and events organised throughout the year, such as open tournaments in summer \u2013 the now-famous Paco Open and the pitch & putt Nina Digsmed Trophy \u2013 the academy pro-am, the annual parents versus sons and daughters Ryder Cup-format match and the Three Kings Trophy, which is a pairs tournament for adult members of the club and academy students, with gifts for all the children. <\/p>\n
For those children who already compete at a regional or national level, the club offers support for transport and entry fees for taking part in legs of the various circuits \u2013 provincial, regional and national. For the most important championships, involving children who are too young to travel alone, the club will organize the whole trip and designate a professional to accompany, coach and advise the youngsters during the trip and tournament. <\/p>\n
\u2014 How many competitions are included on the academy\u2019s calendar?<\/p>\n
\u2013 In addition to the aforementioned competitions, for our 2015 calendar we have organized nearly 50 championships for students.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Taking into account these successes, presumably many parents would like their children to take part in the Royal Guadalmina Golf Club Academy. What are the requirements to join? <\/p>\n
\u2013 To participate and benefit from all these advantages, they just have to become a club member. Thanks to the fact that shares are for families, a couple and all their children can become members by purchasing just one share. In addition, the children\u2019s and academy fees are very attractive. <\/p>\n
\u2013 What do the academy students do when they turn 18?<\/p>\n
\u2013 This is as diverse as life itself. I believe and hope that they all benefit from the experience and from the values of comradeship and competitiveness they are able to acquire. Those students who stand out at a sporting level have the possibility of continuing their sports and academic training, with scholarships at some of the world\u2019s most prestigious universities. Especially in the United States, numerous scholarships are offered to young sportspeople. Right now we have six former pupils from the academy studying there: Casto and Laura G\u00f3mez, Antonio Cruz-Conde, Calvin Greschner, Andr\u00e9s Tamayo and Luc\u00eda Jim\u00e9nez. And before there were Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, Noem\u00ed Jim\u00e9nez and Patrick Simard, to name a few. <\/p>\n
Some of them choose golf as a profession, either to play on the professional tours or to share their experience in coaching.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Finally, what prompted Royal Guadalmina Golf Club to go to all this effort?<\/p>\n
\u2013 To attract young families with children to the club, which ensures its continuity and its social life among different generations. And also to encourage and develop the playing of sport among youngsters, as our parents did in their day for us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are certain golf clubs that stand out for the number of exceptional players they produce in their schools and academies. Royal Guadalmina Golf Club is, without a doubt, one of them. The foundations of the club\u2019s golf academy were laid in 1994, under the baton of Guadalmina professional Francisco Hern\u00e1ndez N\u00fa\u00f1ez. Thanks in great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-generales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}