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The path to a career as a professional golfer has evolved significantly over the past three decades. In the days of Severiano Ballesteros and Miguel Angel Jimenez it was through the caddy ranks. Subsequently, at least in Spain, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Olaz\u00e1bal was one of the first to hone his game as a globetrotting amateur before turning professional, and then followed by another great figure such as Sergio Garc\u00eda. <\/p>\n
Today, many promising young amateurs, both from Spain and other parts of Europe and the rest of the world, obtain a university scholarship in the United States, where they can combine the study of a career with intensive golf training and tournaments. Such was the course taken by Jon Rahm and Azahara Mu\u00f1oz, for example. Meanwhile, other potential young stars of the future have opted not to pursue tertiary education and have taken the plunge as a professional fresh out of high school, or shortly thereafter. <\/p>\n
For Tina Mazarino, Norway\u2019s top-ranked amateur, who has been practicing regularly on the Costa del Sol for the past seven years and spoke to Andaluc\u00eda Golf\/Espa\u00f1a Golf at Los Arqueros Golf & Country Club in February, the choice is clear. When she turns 19 in July 2019 and loses her junior status, she plans to turn professional immediately. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Tina is racking up an impressive tally of amateur accomplishments.<\/p>\n
She started playing golf in 2007 at the age of 6, encouraged by her golfer father Per. \u201cI\u2019ve always been very active and played several sports. I tried handball and gymnastics, but they weren\u2019t my thing. When I was 10 (just after scoring her first hole-in-one) I started playing tournaments and that\u2019s when I told my parents I wanted to turn pro and become one of the best in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the following years she became junior champion and senior champion in 2011, represented Norway in the 2013 and 2014 Evian Junior Championships, won numerous Junior Tour tournaments and the Under 19 Order of Merit, triumphed in the Norwegian Match Pay Championship when she was only 16 , represented Norway in the European Girls Championship and won the OOM Norges CUP (Norway\u2019s best circuit).<\/p>\n
Handicap 1.2, she is currently hoping to be selected as Norway\u2019s representative for this year\u2019s Junior Olympics as she continues to gain experience in junior and open tournaments throughout Europe. For the time being, Tina is ruling out the option of going to college. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of Norwegians go to college in the U.S., but I\u2019ve always wanted to turn pro and play golf. I can come back if something happens or I want to study later. I think this is my only chance to turn pro and I\u2019m going to try. I want to be good at a young age: it\u2019s my passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fulfilling that passion is serious business. In addition to his training in Norway and winters practicing on the Costa del Sol, his mother, Beate, is his teacher, giving him lessons at home, he has a professional trainer in Marbella (in addition to his father), a mental trainer and a physical trainer, and enjoys kickboxing in his spare time, if only for the exercise, not the fighting aspect. <\/p>\n
At the end of 2017 she competed in Morocco e one of the pre-final stages of the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School and finished a creditable 48th, being well placed until a mistake in the fourth and final round. \u201cI went there just to see what it\u2019s like and learn from that\u2026. It was a really good experience and I think it will be easier for me next time.\u201d <\/p>\n
The next time will be at the end of this year, when she will again seek qualification to play on the LET. Looking ahead, her goal is to try for US LPGA Tour qualification in 2019. \u201cThat\u2019s my dream, to play on the LPGA Tour and do well there.\u201d When asked if she aspires to emulate the feats of Norway\u2019s top star, Suzann Pettersen , she laughs and replies, \u201cYes, definitely, winning majors, being number one in the world. That\u2019s my dream. I want to be the best. <\/p>\n
She already has a godmother on the American Tour, the LPGA, in Spain, Beatriz Recari, whose caddie and boyfriend is Norwegian and shares a fitness trainer with Tina. They are in regular contact and Recari sends her congratulatory messages when the young Scandinavian has a good tournament. <\/p>\n
Tina and her parents, who rented a house near the Benahav\u00eds golf course this winter, say they greatly appreciate receiving support from Los Arqueros. \u201cI play the course almost every day. It\u2019s really good, I like it and it\u2019s a challenge for me. Everyone here is very friendly and welcomes me with open arms.\u201d <\/p>\n
In fact, Tina wishes she could spend more time in Spain. \u201cI want to stay here forever,\u201d she assures. \u201cI love it, I really do, especially the weather \u2013 the worst days here can be like the good days of the whole summer in Norway!\u201d. <\/p>\n
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The path to a career as a professional golfer has evolved significantly over the past three decades. In the days of Severiano Ballesteros and Miguel Angel Jimenez it was through the caddy ranks. Subsequently, at least in Spain, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Olaz\u00e1bal was one of the first to hone his game as a globetrotting amateur before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004","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=22004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}