Without even having reached the age of majority, Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio (Madrid, 17 years old) has aroused the attention of the entire golf scene thanks to a list of winners and feats reserved for a select few.
Number 13 in the world amateur ranking, the woman from Madrid is the Under-18 world champion, runner-up in the British Girl Amateur, winner of the Toyota World Cup, absolute Spanish champion (she did this at the age of 16), and a long list of awards that have fact that his next destination is the prestigious University of Texas A&M, in the United States.
Cayetana Fernandez, statements
The great presentation of Cata, as family and friends know it, before professional golf was three weeks ago, at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open in Spain. The golfer trained at the Country Club went to bed on Friday as the leader of the Ladies European Tour final after a tremendous round of 65 strokes, the best of the entire tournament.
“I saw that she was going first and that she could win, but she told myself that it was very complicated. I had negative thoughts, I thought that I am very small, not even a professional… But when I go out on the course I forget that and I just try to play my best golf”, Cayetana recalls to AS.
The pressure did not weigh on the weekend and she finished fifth, being the best Spanish in the tournament and also the best amateur. “They were some impressive days, I will always remember them. When I go out to compete I don’t pay attention to what tournament it is or who I’m playing against, I’m going to win from day one.
There were nerves, but as soon as I stepped onto the pitch I felt at home”, explains the Madrid native. Cayetana, who has been playing golf since she was 5 years old, has always grown up linked to this sport. One of her sisters, Blanca, is in her fourth year at Texas A&M, the university that has now also recruited Cata.
“I have always been clear that I wanted to leave, and my parents wanted us to try to leave together,” says Fernández, who will leave for the United States in August, where she already has rented an apartment in which she will live with her sister.
“It’s lucky because she’s going to help me and she’s going to introduce me to people. We get along very well, although I suppose we’ll have a fight between the sisters… It’s going to be great, we’ll compete on the same team and it comforts me to know that, since I’m a little afraid of being away from home, I’ll have Blanca by my side ”.
Until embarking on this new adventure, Cayetana leads a sacrificed life in the CETEMA of the Madrid Golf Federation. “We are four girls and four boys in class. In the morning we have three hours of school, then we go to train for three hours, we return to school for three more hours of class and we finish with physical preparation.
Listening to it like this still has a bit of an impact because you are away from home for many hours, but it is very well organized and we have a very good atmosphere”, narrates a Cata who defines her game as “based on straightness with the drive and capable of making good putts.
Although of character I am a bit complicated. But the anger makes me take out the claw ”. With dreams of “playing in the LPGA, winning a big one and participating in the Solheim Cup”, the Spanish golf diamond has its next stop on the other side of the pond.
