Nine Spanish golfers are competing this week in the 2024 French Junior International, the Esmond Cup, one of the oldest tournaments on the women's calendar. As usual, the competition is being held at the popular Saint Cloud course, near Paris, where some of the best players on the continent are competing.

The competition brings together 108 golfers from March 28 to April 1, including these nine Spanish women: Balma Dávalos, Anna Cañadó, Alba González, Martina Navarro, Amanda Revuelta, Noa Terroba, Nagore Martínez, Lucía Valderrama and Claudia Lara.

It's worth noting that Balma Dávalos is in excellent form, having come very close to winning the Spanish Women's Under-18 Championship last week. Only Cloe Amión's inspired performance prevented her from arriving in France as the winner.

Anna Cañadó, for her part, faces the challenge with the high – and also the logical jet lag – of her sixth place in the Junior Invitational held in South Carolina (United States) just a few days ago.

The goal of the aforementioned golfers is to emulate the extraordinary performance of Madrid native Andrea Revuelta in the last edition, where she fell in the final to Sweden's Meja Oretengren. The absence of these two players this year is offset by the presence of others of the caliber of Frenchwoman Sara Brentcheneff, a finalist in the last Copa de SM La Reina (Queen's Cup).

The tournament is played in two phases: a first Stroke Play in which all participants face two rounds of 18 holes, and a second Match Play to which only the thirty-two best ranked in the previous phase have access.

Marta García, Nuria Iturrioz and other beautiful precedents

The winning track record in the 64 editions of the French Junior International is very promising for Spanish golfers. The most recent successes include the victory in 2018 by Marta García from Galicia, who defeated Dimana Viudes from Murcia 2&1 in a thrilling final, and Paula Martín's second-place finish in 2023.

In 2015, the victory went to Nuria Iturrioz from the Balearic Islands, now a professional player. The former student of the Blume National School defeated French player Agathe Laisne 4&2 in the final, a score that demonstrated her superiority throughout the decisive 36-hole match. Nuria Iturrioz thus claimed her first international title, having previously defeated her teammate and friend Ana Peláez in the semifinals.

Prior to this victory, the record was already very positive for Spanish golfers. At St. Cloud, Estefanía Knuth (1990 and 1992), María José Pons (1994 and 1996), Tania Elósegui (1999), Emma Cabrera (2001), María Hernández (2003), Elisa Serramià (2004), Beatriz Recari (2005), and Carlota Ciganda (2006) have also won.

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