Belén Mozo is one of our most international golf players. Originally from Cadiz, she begun shining when she won titles such as the British Ladies Amateur Championship and she became a LPGA professional in 2011, after having finished her degree on lnternational Relations at the South Carolina University. Her injuries and the development of her life made her decide to give up competitions three years ago. Famous due to her communication ability, her career is still connected to golf. She is a Solheim Cup ambassador and is part of the team that organizes this competition that she knows very well because she played the Junior Solheim twice.

Tell us about your decision to retire Let’s say that I knew what kind of p/ayer I was and up to what point I could go, my skin Is. There is a saying about golfers that they are known only as golfers, I was scared of that. I was always conscious that I chose golf, but I wasn’t only a golfer and I knew that my career hadan expiry date. Probably it was too ear!y due to my injuries, because I was a bit bored and because of the moment in lite I was, with a solid relationship. We had been together far 11 years and, him being a professional athlete too, we had a very difficult calendar to pair up.

Have you regretted it?

lt was a shock for everybody, including my family, but there are moments in which the abrupt choices are the correct ones. I am a very impulsive person, but the best decision I have taken have been due to that impulsive nature. Oespite being at the best moment in my career, I don’t regret anything.

And who is Belén Mozo now?

My strongest niche is still golf, obviously it is where I feel more comfortable, I still define myself as a professional golfer, I don’t compete, but I am a golf professional outside of golf. I am very good at social relations, at creating tournaments, at managing the social media, at the creation of content… My other passion is golf fashion. I get too frustrated with the etiquette that the golfers have been given, I understand that it is a high class and etiquette sport, but the boundaries should be open; golf is still too elitist and we are not arriving to ali the frontiers we need to achieve. My ideal is to make golf more inclusive, to reach more people, economically, socially and culturally.

You have Jeft everything for love

We have our lives in Colombia, but I have that thorn of not being in my country In fact, since I arrived to the USA, when I was 18 years old, I didn’t come back and every time I return to Spain, I come to my country but I feel like a foreigner, I feel like a stranger at the places, there are many places I don’t know. We are happy in Colombia; it has negative publicity but it is a very nice country, with very pure people, the standard of living is very good and I feel good. I have in my mind the idea of giving my future family the choice of fifty/fifty also in Spain.

The difference between women ‘s and men’s golf is wider in Colombia Colombia is like Spain 50 years ago; golf is obviously very raw. I have been offered severa! projects to try to promote women ‘s golf in Colombia. I may do it in the future, I am not ready yet. Women ‘s golf there can never compete with Europe, because you need to count on federations and I have the stellar example of the Spanish Federation, which makes a wonderful Job for the youth in golf,· so, it is going to be very difficult for them to be likened to Europe.

How do you see the new generations?

They come very strong. My ideal is that they keep in mind the idea of balancing golf with the university I am concerned that young people commit themselves to be professional without giving university a chance beforehand, because I am scared that they stagnate in golf and think they don’t have a plan B. The university is not just for the title, it toughens you up as a person; you are far from your country, you learn how to deal with people from other cultures, you are afane in front of the world and you develop quicker than staying at home.

Do you still see a big difference between the LPGA and the LET?

There is a big difference. The top is the LPGA, it is where there is more money, more choices, but there is also more competence. You play better courses that at the same time make your game develop. The LPGA will always be an objective for the players, but l like the fact that the LET is growing, it is gaining importance. !t is good for the novice players to be toughened up at the European because it is a good tour and it gives you experience, even more so now that there is more money and more tournaments. Sometimes the players think that their only choice is to go to the LPGA because other players have done it. But every golfer has her process. Young players have to understand that the European tour is not a bad choice, that it is not the toser choice. Sometimes the players stick to and stay hidden in the LPGA, without evolving, while they could be here relaxed, being toughened up to give the step up whenever.

You are a Solheim ambassador

lt is a bomb. Our Job is to make to non­ golfing Spanish people understand the enormity of this event. lt is a challenge because I feel that in Spain golf is still a small and elitist niche and people don’t feel that passion for a golf tournament the same as they do in the USA. There, everybody is crazy for golf, golfers and non-golfers. We have the challenge of trying to make them see that this will be historical worldwide, make them understand the importance of having a Solheim in Spain and make the Americans appreciate the place where they will spend one week. I am a passionate of golf tourism, they are going to arrive here and they are going to go crazy.

Is it going to be the best Solheim Cup?

I have no doubts. Spain doesn’t only offer great golf courses but it offers a culinary choice that doesn’t exist in any other place of the world. The Spanish gastronomy can’t be compared with anywhere else, but also the culture, the party nights, the Spanish lifestyle is the best. We are going to give them more, they are not coming just for a golf championship, they will have a spectacular landscape, amazing food, drinking bars, beautiful and well-dressed women. What else can I say, it is just that the European style is different, it is to give them a three sixty to the experience they can have.