Kajsa Schmidt always has a smile on her face. Whenever she is at her club, Atalaya Golf & Country Club, she is constantly receiving visitors in her role as an excellent public relations officer. That’s why she is held in such high esteem by all members, who appreciate the work she puts in as captain. Her perfectionist attitude means that she spends more than three or even four hours a day doing the job as best she can. As a result, although she greatly enjoys her work as captain, she has decided that this will be her final year. She has just become a grandmother, which means she will be spending more time in her native city of Stockholm.

Kajsa went from member of the Committee to captain two years ago. Her husband has been a member at Atalaya for 16 years and she has been part of the club for six. This, even though she used to work in Sweden and only came to Marbella on holiday.
Her experience in managing teams originates from her background working in a legal
office, while she learnt everything involved in organising tournaments from her younger daughter, “my daughter was a very good player, so she was on the Swedish Junior Ladies Golf Committee”. “I asked the captain if he needed help and he was grateful for any. That’s how I started to accompany all the girls in the competitions. My daughter stopped
when she was 15, but I continued working for the club organising parties and competitions”, she cheerfully remembers. It was at that time when she became addicted to golf and started to play. “I started quite late, around 20 years ago, and I didn’t get much chance to play to begin with. I’m not really a very good player. In fact, my lowest ever handicap was 19 and it now stands at 25. I still take classes even now”, she tells us. Despite this, she assures us that she enjoys playing with good golfers. “I really enjoy playing with good players, with low handicaps. Many people feel intimidated when playing with them, but I find it fantastic. The other day I played with a very good guest from Finland. Watching this golfer was like poetry in motion.” Although Atalaya Golf has more than 400 members, she tells us that only around a hundred are really active as many are now elderly people who don’t play, and others only visit for short periods of time. That’s why she is happy to receive new members every day. “Now we are getting a lot of new members. I invite them to a welcome drink with the captain so they can get to know other people”, she says. Planning the whole yearly schedule, trying to organise different types of competitions and throw parties are the main aspects of the role. “We also organise barbecues at the Academy and lots of parties with live music and dance.
You have to try to do different things, offering varied competitions, trying to mix the players so they can play with different people”, Kajsa tells us proudly. “You also have to take care of the awards and make sure rules are adhered to. Sometimes you have to deal with criticism, but in general, everybody is very grateful and happy. We’ve got such a
wonderful mix of nationalities and characters that it is difficult to please everybody.”
If there’s anything which characterises Atalaya, it is its international membership. Among
all its members, more than 36 nationalities are represented. The annual International Competition is a great event and one of tournaments the captains enjoy organising the most. Passionate about golf, wife, mother and now grandmother. Cheerful, kind, and a leader. That’s Kajsa, the captain of the Atalaya Club.