The Community of Madrid Ladies Open developed different activities this Tuesday to encourage the practice of golf two days before the start of a tournament that belongs to the Ladies European Tour (LET), the first level women’s professional golf circuit.
The amateur players Cayetana Fernández, Paula Martín and Rocío Tejedo, together with Eva-Lotta Strömlid, director of the PING Junior Solheim Cup, monopolized the limelight by assuring that their presence at the Community of Madrid Ladies Open is a dream come true and “a unique opportunity to enjoy and learn from the professionals”, declared Cayetana Fernandez. “Being in this tournament is quite an award, the important thing is to continue playing the same game and enjoy the experience,” said Paula Martín, while Rocío Tejedo added that “playing under pressure makes you learn.”
After her appearance, an exhibition match took place between the professionals Nuria Iturrioz and Luna Sobrón. with a group of adapted golfers made up of María Teresa Fernández (Multiple Sclerosis), Eduardo Vegas (Asperger’s), José Manuel Heras (reduced mobility), Marc Oller (Blind), Carlos Cofrades (Parkinson’s) and Alberto Núñez (Arthrogryposis).
In the first place, both golfers played hole one of the par 3 of the Jarama-RACE Golf Club with these adapted golf players, highlighting the game of Eduardo Vegas, bronze at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Later, the challenge was expanded and Nuria Iturrioz and Luna Sobrón faced Alberto Nuñez, who uses a prosthesis. To equalize the conditions, both players disputed the hole on one foot, so that they could see the difficulty of executing the swing with one leg.
Finally, the two players were blindfolded to face Marc Ollé, a blind golfer, and were also able to experience the difficulty of playing a hole only with the instructions of your companion. “It has been an incredible experience, without a doubt, the most complicated thing has been playing blind,” declared Nuria Iturrioz, while Luna Sobrón highlighted “the merit of these people, above all, because they play the same golf as us”. This challenge aroused the curiosity of numerous people in the par 3 course of the Jarama-RACE Golf Club, and among them, oblivious to everything that was happening and delighted with the attention and caresses, was “Bern”, Marc Ollé’s guide dog. .
The day was completed with a clinic given by Maja Stark to the young women Cayetana Fernández, Paula Martín and Rocío Tejedo and other members of the RACE amateur team. In this master class, the Swedish player and current number one in the Race to Costa del Sol, began by giving some interesting tips to concentrate on the golf course and, above all, to withstand pressure, which was followed by a short game exhibition with different blows that surprised both the juniors and the public present.