BLUME NATIONAL SCHOOL 24 25

Check out the full dossier on the school's history and the photo galleries below, in Related Content.

The Blume National School is a well-established sporting institution with 35 years of history and hundreds of players under its belt; yet, it maintains the same youthful, cheerful, and competitive spirit as always. Boys and girls come here to play, grow, mature, train, and have fun. In return, the professionals in charge do everything they can to help them realize their golfing dreams. It's a mutually beneficial exchange that has proven advantageous for both parties throughout this time, and one that will undoubtedly continue to be so for the seventeen players beginning their journey at Blume this 2024/25 season. A wonderful adventure begins here.

Six new faces at the 'old' Blume

As every year, the first few months are crucial for the integration of newcomers: new classmates, a new city, and a new environment. That's why the support of the veterans is so important. The new class at the Blume Academy in Madrid—which operates in the state-of-the-art facilities of the Center of Excellence, at the National Golf Center, and in the Joaquín Blume Residence—includes six new students: Nerea Garrido from the Canary Islands, Laura Gorgees from Zaragoza, Arián Rodríguez from Almería, Benjamín Van Braak (originally from the Netherlands, originally from Málaga), Gonzalo Baños from Cádiz, and Pelayo Fernández from Asturias. These six talented youngsters join the veterans: Iván Enguita from Zaragoza, Jorge Sánchez and Noa Terroba from Málaga, and Lucía Valderrama from Valencia.

There's one thing that makes it easier for the newcomers to adapt: almost all of them already know each other from playing in Zonal Qualifying Tournaments, Spanish Championships of Autonomous Communities, and other youth tournaments. Having friends who have already been at the school for a year is what has allowed Gonzalo Baños to get off to a good start. "I've known almost all of them since they were kids; I knew Noa well, and Jorge and Iván were old friends of mine," he explains.

Noa Terroba herself is much more explicit, already a veteran despite arriving in Madrid just twelve months ago: “The first year you come with fear, but in the second you know that what you're going to do is enjoy working with the technicians every day, and you're going to improve. You also know that you have to study a lot, but that's another story.”.

The most challenging thing when a new boy arrives "is adapting to the routine, which is very demanding. It's many hours straight without a break, and you don't usually have that pace at home. Plus, you're away from your hometown, and that also plays a role," Noa explains.

While the good news in Madrid has been the arrival of six highly talented young players, the bad news has been the departure of four. Cloe Amión, Rocío Tejedo, and Balma Dávalos from Valencia—the latter heading to the United States—and Alba González from Pontevedra have left the academy as accomplished golfers, with numerous successes already under their belts.

A year of changes in León

It's also a busy year at the Blume Center in León, as it marks ten years of training athletes and individuals. Only three of its seven members remain: Lucía Iraola from Gipuzkoa, Mónica del Valle from León, and Ana Malcolm from the Canary Islands. The departures of Clara Martínez, Santiago Juesas, Miguel Mora, and Alberto Baños are offset by the arrival of Álvaro Trujillano from Cádiz, Iñigo Ferreira from Granada, Javier Domingo from Biscay, and Inés González from Cantabria.

As in the previous ten years, these golfers will follow their training routines, virtually identical to those of their Madrid counterparts, at top-level facilities: the High-Performance Center in León, the León Golf Club—which, in addition to a good course, offers a driving range and a large putting green—and the Colegio Leonés, a school with 128 years of history. Furthermore, these seven golfers regularly visit the RFEG's Center of Excellence for technical analyses.

Save Luna, an institution in charge

No one is better suited to lead the Blume National Schools than Salva Luna, one of the most highly regarded golf coaches in Spain. His extensive experience and the enormous recognition surrounding his career—it's no coincidence that the PGA of Europe awarded him The John Jacobs Award for Teaching and Coaching in 2014—make him the ideal leader to guide the dreams of each generation.

Salva leads the team that manages the core principles guiding everything at the centers in Madrid and León. Kiko Luna, Álvaro Salto, Jorge García, and Alberto Díaz are the technical staff who work alongside Salva in the players' daily routines. Off-field coordination is handled by Laura Moreno in Madrid and Miriam Guerra in León. Thanks to them, the boys and girls can confidently tackle the demanding, yet exciting, schedules of study and sport that characterize the Academy.

The psychological aspect is handled by experienced professionals such as Óscar del Río and José Lombo; and Paco Fernández and Álvaro Gil are responsible for working with the boys on the physical aspect. Overall coordination falls to Ignacio Gervás, Sports Director of the RFEG (Royal Spanish Golf Federation).

“If Jon Rahm was here…”

Managing and carefully assessing the expectations of the young golfers is one of the many tasks that teachers have at both schools. They all aspire to be top professionals, and they work hard to achieve that goal. Their motivation stems largely from the many illustrious players who have trained at the Blume Academy: Azahara Muñoz, Nacho Elvira, Álvaro Quirós, Nuria Iturrioz, and, of course, Jon Rahm. A huge banner next to the National Center's driving range commemorates the fact that the Basque champion honed his skills on those very greens.

“When you see that Rahm and other great golfers have come through here, and that they learned the same things we are learning now, it’s an encouragement and an inspiration, because you say, ‘Well, they went through the same thing I did, so maybe in the future I can go through the same thing they went through.’ It’s very motivating when the coaches tell us what those great players were like and how they trained,” says an enthusiastic Noa Terroba.

Rookie Gonzalo Baños, much more direct, simplifies it like this: “If I’m here and Jon Rahm was also here, that means that for the moment I’m doing things right.”.