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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 Rodríguez, 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 learning
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: R.C.G. Campoamor (Alicante)
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 until 2006.
North Course, 10th tee, February 1995.
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2006-2007: La Serena Golf (Murcia)
I took the position
of Sports Manager 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 that
year.
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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 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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The Spanish
Category 2 Championship
In May 1987 I won
the
Campeonato Interterritorial de España de 2ª Categoría
(Category 2 Spanish Amateur Championship) so becoming the first
player form the Murcia region to win a national title in any
category.
It was along,
hard week in my first 72 hole event on what was for many years the
longest course in Spain (6502 metres, 7107 yards). Playing for four
straight
days in a gale with play suspended several times due to heavy rains
and floods was indeed an
experience. For the first time I learnt the real meaning of pressure
holding my position at the top of the leaderboard while beating some
more experienced players and their psichological war.
 
This was only a
minor tournament but the success convinced me to eventually pursue a
career in golf.
Turning
professional
It was crystal
clear for me. I wanted to be a golf pro. I knew I was not an
outstanding player but I could see there was a future in golf as
there were so many new courses to be opened in the next few years.
At the end of
1987, the only way to become a golf pro was becoming an “Aspirante”,
a semi-professional category which gave you access to pro events but
no to prize money.
 My
first event as an “Aspirante” was in the Spanish National Aspirante
Championship at Los Lagos Golf Course in Mijas in December 1987,
where I finished 13th.
I played several
events during 1988 with little success, frequently alternating
excellent rounds with disastrous ones. This lack of consistency
prevented me form making many cuts.
At the end of
this year the Spanish Golf Federation created a new rule by which
any golfer with a handicap of 3 could automatically apply for the
pro status. This new formula was so much better so I applied for my
old amateur status and my 5 handicap. In May 1989, after a short
waiting period and thanks to the help of the then President of the
Murcian Golf Federation, Jose Antonio Nuño de la Rosa, I finally
regained my amateur status. By the end of June, after winning a few
local competitions, my handicap was reduced to 3.
At the end of
1989 I sat my exam on the Rules of Golf and finally became a
professional golfer. one year later, in November 1990 at Aloha Golf
Club I passed my exam to become an assistant golf pro. Two years
later I finally obtained the top professional category in Spanish
golf (Maestro) at El Saler
(Valencia).
In february 1995
I signed as a golf pro at La Manga Club. Due to the many
responsibilities I had and the high volume of lessons I almost
completely abandoned competitive golf, restricting my appearances to
ProAms and local tournaments.
From 2000 to 2002
I tried my luck again and played the Circuito de Andalucía de Profesionales,
then the strongest regional tour in Spain. I was in top form and in
a good mood those years and played some excellent golf, regularly
finishing in the top-10.
With this success
in mind, from 2003 I put all my attention in the newly created APGRM (Asociación de Profesionales de Golf de la Región de Murcia,
PGA of Murcia) becoming the champion of the regional tour in 2003
and 2004, and runner up in 2005.
Tired with
watching the the loss of values in golf and witnessing cheating in
virtually every tournament and ProAm I played in, I finally quit
from competitive golf in 2006.
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
Andalucía (APGA)
With the
sponsorship of La Manga Club I played regularly on the Niza Cars
APGA Tour between 2000 and 2002. This tour was at the time the
strongest regional tour in Spain, consisting of around 15 events
every year. Mi commitments at the Club allowed me to play in around
10 every year. I never had any success in the opening Pro Ams but I
did quite well in the individual rounds, coming second in one
occasion, third in another two and finishing in the top 10 at least
a dozen other times. I managed to finish
in the top 15 in the final rankings in 2000 and 2001, playing
alongside many of today´s European Tour new stars such as Quirós or
Cañizares.
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 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.
Nowadays the PGA of
Murcia continues under a different name and with a purpose very far
from that for which it was originally founded, the promotion of pro
golfers from the Region.
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