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Biography: the
beginnings
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I took up golf in 1972 at the
age of 6. This is my first member´s card at Villamartín Golf
Club. |
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All I can recall
from those days is going to the driving range and taking some
lessons from the club pro, Emilio Rodriguez, when he joined the club
in 1978.
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With my brother
Carlos (left) at the back of the 9th green (now the
18th) at Villamartín. |
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With my brother Carlos (left) on the 14th green (now the 5th) at
Villamartín. |
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My father and
brother (right) on the 14th green (now the 5th) at
Villamartín. |
I can remember
traveling to Almería to play Almerimar Golf Club and Cortijo Grande,
when the latter was still an 18 hole course.
My mother and brother (left) on the 2nd hole (now the 8th)
at Almerimar, in 1978. |
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My father, Pablo Garralón,
on the 9th hole (now the 15th)
at Almerimar (now the ), in 1978. |
| My
Spanish Golf Federation card in 1980. |
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Putting on on the 14th green (now the 5th) at
Villamartín. |
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Teeing off the 15th (currently the 6th) at Villamartín.
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Driving off the
lower tee at the par 3 8th (now the 17th) at Villamartín. |
| Practicing
from the top tier at the driving range in Villamartín. |
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The formation
years
After my father
passed away in 1981, Villamartín Golf Club aloowed me to carry on
using the course and gave their support. Without their help I would
not have been able to turn pro. My sincerest thanks to Juan Miguel Buendía
and all the Pedrera famil (the owners) for their help.
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Summer time was the busiest at the Club. 8th tee, Villamartín
Golf Club, summer 1986 |
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Driving off the
3rd (nowadays the 4th) at Los Moriscos Golf (Granada) in
May 1986.
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I
used to play Villamartín every weekend
10th tee, October 1985. |
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Villamartín,
October 1985. Driving off the 10th. The extension of the
clubhouse can be seen being built in the background. |
| My
swing in 1985. |
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I used to caddy
for local pro Pascual Jiménez in pro competitions in summer
time. Here, Pascual and Antonio Parrón at the RACE Golf Club in
Madrid in 1984. |
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Caddying for Pascual at Lomas Bosque, in 1986. |
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1987. Playing
with Manolo García “Super Nou” the
Campeonato de Levante at Costa de Azahar (Castellón). |
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Playing a ProAm at Lomas Bosque (Madrid) with Juan Miguel Buendía, Alfonso Piñero
and Juan Alonso in 1987. |
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Club de Campo del Mediterráneo (Castellón)
in 1987, playing the Teams Campeonato de Levante with Bruno Dureux, Miguel Mesquida
and Carlos Otero. |
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Driving off the 11th at Villamartín. |
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My first gross under par
scorecard, signed by
Jaime López Climent. |
People at Villamartín
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With Pablo Gómez, Pascual Jiménez and Jose María Buendía,
in a pro tournament in Mallorca in 1988. |
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Pablo Gomez, Raúl and
Pascual in the old
Caddy-Master´s office at Villamartín. |
Jose María
and Pascual
at the driving range. |
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Emilio Rodríguez
practicing. |
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Tomás, an unforgettable character in Villamartín. |
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Raúl
and Pepe González at the driving range. |
Jose María Buendía,
the Mesquida family
and the Carlos-Roca brothers.
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Tom Birch, one
of my regular partners those days. He left to Florida in 1987. |
Pablo Gómez, during a
practice round in Mallorca in 1988.
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The Benardout
family and other friends. |
Bruno Dureux, one of my regular
playing partners in the 80s.
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Rafael and Miguel Carlos-Roca,
two of the toughest guys to beat I have ever come across. |
Juan Alonso, a great player and
friend with his characteristic golf swing. Villamartín, par 5
5th.
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Ramón
Izquierdo, driving off the 10th.
One of the most popular characters at Villamartín. |
1989-1992: Real Club de Golf Campoamor,
my first job
Campoamor Golf
Club opened in In November 1989 and I was appointed as the golf pro.
My duties included: teaching, setting the course up, running
competitions, selling green fees, etc.
At the 1st tee, summer 1990.
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Alberto Iglesias
and brother and Juan Pedro Gómez Sar,
October 1990. |
Manolo de
Miguel, father and son, regular visitors. |
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At the driving
range, October 1991. |
Pedro Jaquero
(middle) and Paco Parra
at the reception desk in 1991. |
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During a prize
presentationat the clubhouse with Jean Kingsley. |
1992-1993: Los Moriscos Club de Golf
(Granada)
I left Campoamor
in January 1992 to take over as head pro at Los Moriscos,
where I would be running the golf shop and the driving range and
school. Looking back in the years, this 2 year spell in Granada was
possibly the most satisfactory in my career.
At the 5th
(now the 9th), November 1992. |
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Playing a
bunker shot at the 9th (now the 18th). |
At the clubhouse, with my wife
Concha and our little doggy Perecval. February 1993. |
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During a ProAm
prizegiving ceremony with Antonio Parrón (the pro at Granada Golf), Vidal Carralero (my predecessor
at Los
Moriscos), Sebastián Bruna and Manolo Díaz, both from
Guadalhorce Golf Club. |
1995-2006: La Manga Club (Murcia)
I joined La Manga
Club in February 1995 as a teaching professional. With a lot of work
and effort, together with my colleagues Martyn Vaughan, Calvin O´Carroll
and Ángel Luis Saura we managed to make the Golf Academy a reference
in quality and service which lasted until 2006.
North Course, 10th tee, February 1995.
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2006-2007: La Serena Golf (Murcia)
I took the position
of Sports Mangaer and Head Golf Pro at La Serena Golf when the
course opened in September 2006. Following a first very successful
year from all the team, the ownership decided make us redundant and
proceeded to replace us with their friends and relatives.
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At the 9th, during a photo
shoot for cleveland Golf, the golf school´s sponsor then..
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Juan Martos,
the first manager at La Serena. I learnt more about golf
management from Juan in one year that I had
in the whole of my career together. |
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Ramón Carrión, Rubén Santamaría
and Juan Martos, the first team at La Serena. A group of
true professionals.
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2008: Mosa Golf (Murcia)
I worked for Mosa
Golf as an assistant to the Manager from May to December 2008. The
best from this spell was no doubt working alongside a group of
professionals like Inma, Laura, Melissa, Pili and Nina, and sin of
course Cristian and Tim, the golf pros
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Nina, Tim,
Laura and Inma in the old reception office. |
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With Tim Coombe during a
prize giving ceremony. |
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El Campeonato de España
En Mayo de 1987 gané en el RACE (Madrid) el
Campeonato Interterritorial de España de 2ª Categoría, siendo el primer jugador de Murcia en ganar un Nacional en cualquier categoría.
Fue una semana difícil, con un campo duro, jugando desde barras blancas (con 6502 metros, el RACE fue durante muchos años el campo más largo de España) y un tiempo horrible, lluvias, el campo inundado y vendaval tres de los cuatro días, por lo que los resultados fueron astronómicos.
En este torneo pude experimentar por vez primera la “presión”, especialmente el último día, saliendo de líder y aguantando la guerra psicológica y en ocasiones el juego sucio de mis compañeros de partido, más mayores y experimentados que yo.
 
Aunque el campeonato era un simple Nacional de
segunda categoría, este pequeño éxito que significó sobreponerme a
todas las adversidades durante cuatro días terminó de decidirme a
buscar una carrera en el golf.
El profesionalismo
Lo tenía claro: quería ser profesional de golf. Ya sabía por entonces que no era un gran jugador, pero esperaba mejorar con el tiempo y sobre todo vislumbraba que el golf se convertiría en un negocio y una profesión de futuro, con la creación de nuevos campos.
A finales de 1987, la única forma de acceder a profesional era desde una categoría denominada “Aspirante” que daba acceso a torneos profesionales donde poder obtener los resultados necesarios (4 en un año) para poder examinarse. El acceso a pruebas profesionales estaba limitado a un cierto número de aspirantes, aunque también había varios campeonatos específicos para ellos.
 Me estrené como profesional en el Campeonato de España de Aspirantes que se jugó en el campo Los Lagos, de Mijas, en Diciembre de 1987, acabando en 13ª posición.
Durante 1988 jugué diversos campeonatos con poco éxito, mezclando vueltas muy buenas con vueltas terribles, lo que me impedía pasar los cortes.
A finales de ese año la Federación Española de Golf, aparentemente ante la falta de profesores de golf en los clubs, sacó una norma que permitía acceder a profesional desde el campo amateur, teniendo o habiendo tenido handicap 3. Era evidente que esta fórmula era mucho más ventajosa y opté por pedir de nuevo mi status amateur y recuperar mi handicap 5 que tenía al pasar a aspirante. Gracias al entonces Presidente de la Federación Murciana, Jose Antonio Nuño de la Rosa, me dieron un periodo de espera reducido y así en Mayo de 1989 recuperé el handicap.
A finales de ese año hice mi examen de Reglas y pasé a profesional. En Noviembre de 1990 aprobé en Aloha las pruebas para Asistente de Maestro, y en 1992 conseguí en El Saler
(Valencia) la categoría de Maestro.
Durante los años 90 jugué sin demasiado éxito
en distintas pruebas de los circuitos profesionales que se
celebraban en España. En éstas casi siempre jugaba una vuelta buena
y una mala o viceversa, cosa que me impedía pasar los cortes.
Debido a las muchas responsabilidades
adquiridas y el volumen de clases de golf que tenía que dar al
fichar por La Manga Club en 1995, prácticamente dejé la competición,
limitándome a jugar en ProAm y torneos locales.
De 2000 a 2002 jugué con bastante éxito el
Circuito de Andalucía de Profesionales, por entonces el circuito
regional más fuerte de España. Este capítulo lo actualizaré
próximamente en esta misma web.
A partir de 2003 me centré en la recién creada
APGRM (Asociación de Profesionales de Golf de la Región de Murcia),
logrando ser campeón del circuito en 2003 y 2004, y subcampeón en
2005. Puede ver más acerca de la APGRM al final de esta misma
página.
My holes in 1
I´ve been lucky
to achieve three holes in one so far, none of then duruing a
competition though. All three holes in one came after were well hit,
solid shots.
7th May 1992, 2nd
hole at Los Moriscos, 119 metres par 3. Into the wind, I hit a
perfect 7 iron (John Letters Trilogy). The ball pitched just short
of the hole, bounced once and went in.
My
second hole in one was during a playing lesson on the 2nd hole on
the North Course at La Manga Club. In this occassion I hit a
pitching wedge (Mizuno TP-19) wich pitched past the hole and spun
back to go in.
My last hole in
one to date was on the 14th of April 1999, at the par 3 6th in
Villamartín. I had always rated this hole as particularly tough, but
in this occasion I hit a solid 3 iron (Tommy Armour 845) straight at
the flag that bounced twice and went in.
The PGA of
Murcia (APGRM)
The PGA of Murcia
(APGRM) was founded on the 2nd of December 2002. Its founder members
were Juan Morales, Álvaro Herrero, Pablo Gómez, Juan Pedro Gómez Sar
and myself.
Juan Morales was the engine behind this initiative and was
designated as the first President.
The APGRM Pro
Tour started in 2003, and it included 9 tournaments. This was the
first ever tour of these characteristics in the Region.
The final 2003
ranking (top 10 players) was as follows:
The 2nd edition
of the APGRM Pro Tour took place in 2004, consisting of 8
tournaments:
The final 2004
ranking (top 10 players) was as follows:
2005 saw the 3rd
edition of the Pro Tour, this time with atotal of 9 tournaments:
The final 2005
ranking (top 10 players) was as follows:
There was no Tour in 2006.
The only event was in December at la Serena Golf, which was won by Calvin O´Carroll.
The APGRM Pro Tour was again played in 2008, the winner being Álvaro Herrero.
The Pro Tour had the
support of all local courses in Murcia and in particular La Manga Club
who provided the prize money between 2003 and 2005.
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