Spain's Paula Martín has capped off her first year at Stanford University in the best possible way, leading her team to victory in the NCAA Championship. The Madrid native's team defeated UCLA 3-2 in the title match, culminating an excellent week in which she played a key role.

This is because her contribution was key for Stanford to successfully pass the first phase, just before facing the quarter-final, semi-final and, finally, the grand final, in which Paula Martín lost in a very balanced match against Caroline Canales (2up) practically at the same time as Stanford completed their victory.

This victory - Stanford's third in its history - places the National Team player on par with Spanish golf legends such as Belén Mozo (Southern California), Azahara Muñoz and Carlota Ciganda, winners with their respective teams in the 2008 and 2009 editions.

It's worth remembering that Paula Martín wasn't the only Spaniard in the NCAA Match Play phase. In the preceding rounds, the other two teams with Spanish representation were eliminated: LSU, with Carla Tejedo, lost to Oregon, and Texas A&M, with Cayetana and Blanca Fernández on its roster, lost to UCLA.

Before the Match Play phase began, the Stroke Play was held to determine which eight teams would compete for the title. Paula Martín (-6), Carla Tejedo (-1), Cayetana Fernández (+2), and Blanca Fernández (+5) secured their spots with their respective teams.

That first phase was led by the Stanford team, headed by Paula Martín, and the LSU team, with Carla Tejedo as the second-best player. The Fernández sisters, for their part, also made a decisive contribution to Texas A&M reaching the final phase as the third-ranked team.

Just one spot away was Wake Forest, the team of Carolina López-Chacarra (+13), winner in the 2023 edition. Arkansas with Miriam Ayora (+20) and Mississippi State also missed out, in this case, despite a fantastic performance by Julia López (-2).

In the elimination round at the end of the third day, Carla Bernat (+13) - who was competing individually -, Lucía López (+14), Paula Balanzategui (+20) and Crista Izuzquiza, who only competed in one round, were left without options.

In total, ten Spanish players competed in the final, a number that represents a new milestone for Spanish golf and is a reflection and consequence of the successes achieved by the National Teams in recent years; not surprisingly, Spain is the current European Absolute and Under 18 champion.

Spanish success at the Regionals

A week before this final, the Regionals, qualifying tournaments held at six venues across the country, were decided. Those who secured their place in the final were Julia López (3rd, -8), Paula Martín (3rd, -2), Carla Tejedo (13th, +2), Lucía López (18th, +6), Paula Balanzategui (20th, +3), Carolina López Chacarra (21st, +1), Blanca Fernández (28th, +6), Cayetana Fernández (28th, +6), Miriam Ayora (36th, +10), Crista Izuzquiza (played one round), and Carla.

Bernat, who played individually, qualified in third place with -7.

Throughout the three days of competition, some of these golfers even had a chance to win their respective events. Paula Martín saw the clearest possibility thanks to her first two rounds of 68 strokes, but a 78 caused her to lose ground. Even so, Stanford led comfortably.

Paula Francisco (Florida), Marta López (Kentucky), Keira González (Augusta), María Villanueva (Kentucky), Marina Escobar (Florida), Lucia Esteban (Albany), Oihana Etxezarreta (Delaware), Martina López-Lanchares (Tennessee) and Odette Font (Charleston Southern) were left out of the final.

Julia López's eighth victory came in April

In mid-April, the reigning European champion, Julia López, won her second US Collegiate League title of 2024. She dominated the SEC Women's Championship, held at the Pelican Golf Club in Florida. This was her eighth victory since arriving at Mississippi State University.

Julia López (-10 overall) gave her rivals no chance. Her rounds of 67, 68, and 65, with only four bogeys across the three days, proved too steep a challenge even for golfers of the caliber of Sweden's Louise Rydqvist (South Carolina), in seventh place at -7, or the American prodigy Anna Davis (Auburn), fourth at -4.

In this same event, three other Spanish players secured a Top 25 finish: Cayetana Fernández (Texas A&M) with par, Blanca Fernández (Texas A&M) with +3, and Marta López (Kentucky) with +4. Julia López's team, Mississippi State University, also won the team competition at this SEC Women's Championship, defeating Texas A&M 3-2 in the final.

With this victory, her eighth since playing in the United States, Julia Lopez became the fourth golfer in history to win the SEC Women's Championship twice in a row.

Her first NCAA title dates back to 2021, when she won the Sam Golden Invitational. The reigning European Champion, the golfer from Malaga boasts an increasingly brilliant sporting record, which also includes gold medals at the 2021 European Under-18 Team Championship, the 2022 World University Team Championship, and the 2023 European Team Championship.

In early March, Julia López secured victory at the Darius Rocker Intercollegiate, held at the Long Cove Club course in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. This win marked the first victory for Spanish golfers in the NCAA in 2024.

Julia López accumulated 208 strokes over the three days of competition. After posting very different scores of 67 and 77, the Spanish golfer surprised all her rivals with a near-perfect round of 64 strokes, seven under par, achieved through eight birdies and a single bogey. This put her at the top of the leaderboard alongside three other players – Jennifer Cai, Hannah Darling, and Farah O'Keefe – all tied with 208 strokes. That final round, the best score of all the participants, proved vital in securing the victory for Julia López.

Spanish amateur women golfers already knew what it was like to win the Darius Rocker Intercollegiate. Carolina López Chacarra from Madrid also achieved victory in this tournament in 2022.

Carla Bernat also won in 2024

On the last day of March, Carla Bernat from Castellón achieved a brilliant and resounding victory in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, a tournament integrated within the United States University League that was held on the course of the University of Georgia.

Carla Bernat, who in 2020 was proclaimed the Spanish Absolute Champion and who in 2023 helped Spain to win the European Women's Absolute Team Championship, thus added her fifth victory in the NCAA after those obtained in the Ron Moore Invitational 2022, the Jim West Challenge 2022, the Tulane Classic 2023 and the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational 2023.

On this occasion, the golfer from Castellón dominated all her rivals with two first rounds of 69 and 67, confirmed with a final round of 71 that allowed her to outscore by six strokes the trio made up of the Americans Anna Davis, Ines Archer and Caterina Don.

The four players mentioned were the only ones to finish under par after the three days of competition, with special mention for Carla Bernat, who finished with a total of 9 under par. Her 207 strokes is the third-best score in the history of Kansas State University, where she continues her academic and athletic development after attending Tulane University.

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