![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ladiesingolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/margarita2-200x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMargarita Fern\u00e1ndez is a well-travelled, fantastic, and intelligent woman with a strong personality. Her professional career in the world of finance has given her plenty of success, but quite a lot of up-heaval at the same time. After experiencing life in many foreign countries because of her work, she was clear that Malaga was the place she felt most comfortable and offered her the best quality of life. That’s why, when she took early retirement, she decided to move to Benalmadena. But far from relaxing, her restless nature has led to her assuming several roles at the Guadalmina Golf Club as well as becoming President of the Ladies\u2019 Committee of the Andalusian Golf Federation. Thanks to Margarita, a new competition format has been introduced, which is already being copied by other federations throughout Spain. She has also accompanied many potential future stars of ladies\u2019 golf to tournaments. Unfortunately, an illness to her sister has led to her taking a little time out of the limelight. Now, however, she has just returned from the Solheim Cup, where she worked as a volunteer. Among other things, she was tasked with being scoring official for Azahara Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s match. Although she didn\u2019t take golf up until she was 32, she has plenty of interesting anecdotes to tell us.<\/p>\n
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How did you take up golf?<\/strong> Did golf influence your decision to come to Benalmadena?<\/strong> Of all the places in the world where I had lived, and there are quite a few, the quality of life in general, including golf, is much better here. Golf was a deciding factor because I knew that I could play here and dedicate all the time I wanted to it.<\/p>\n How did you get involved with the Federation? \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Pablo Mansilla, the President of the Federation, called me. I wasn\u2019t expecting it. When I came to Benalmadena, I signed up as a member of this club, Guadalmina, because there is an incredible atmosphere and plenty of initiative on the part of the members to organise things. It\u2019s the club with the most tournaments in Spain. I became Treasurer of the Ladies Branch, and did this for four years, and I also worked on the Tournament Committee. Then, Pablo was chosen president and he asked me to be President of the Ladies\u2019 Committee. I was glad to accept, among other things because I had realised that golf is an incredible sport for children. It teaches them to respect others, gives\u00a0them a desire for self-improvement, and above all, shows them how to cope with frustration. The latter is something which is difficult to learn in any other cir-cumstances. Golf teaches you how to constantly keep your frustration in check, which can be very useful in later life.<\/p>\n What did you contribute to the Andalusian Federation?<\/strong> As far as the sporting factor goes, I preferred Scotland, because, of course, the Germany tournament was tainted by an unsavoury incident. I was Marshall in Pettersen’s four-ball in Germany and I saw exactly what happened because I was only three metres away. For me, the US captain, Julie Inkster, was behind it all. Just Alison Lee, Pettersen and Charley Hull were on the green because the fourth player, Brittany Lincicome had hit water. Lee putted and she missed by about 65 cm. The return putt was downhill, and the green sloped off, making it a difficult shot. Then Lee goes and picks up the ball. The judge asked the players if there was anything to indicate that the ball had been conceded. When they said no, the hole was awarded to Europe. From that moment, the Ame-rican captain started to stir things up. It was the final day and the last few holes of the four-balls were being played. They had been postponed from the day before due to the lack of daylight. That meant that it was first thing Sunday, and this disagreement set the tone for the rest of the matches on Sunday. The Americans were jeering, and the Europeans didn\u2019t feel comfortable. What’s more, in the end Suzann Pettersen came out as if she was the one in the wrong.<\/p>\n So, justice was done at the last Solheim?<\/strong>I was absolutely delighted. I was there, on the 18th hole, right at the front. Pettersen had conceded to the American and was faced with a really tough putt to win. But she went ahead and sunk it! I was so happy that I started hugging people around me who I\u2019d never met before as if they were my family. What did you think of the Spanish players?Fantastic! They played a big part and drove the team forward. I saw Azahara suffer a lot after the previous day, which was very hard because the weather was very harsh. Will you go to the next Solheim?<\/strong> What about a Solheim in Marbella?<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Margarita Fern\u00e1ndez is a well-travelled, fantastic, and intelligent woman with a strong personality. Her professional career in the world of finance has given her plenty of success, but quite a lot of up-heaval at the same time. After experiencing life in many foreign countries because of her work, she was clear that Malaga was the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[]},"categories":[867],"tags":[466,465,285],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nIt was in London. I was director of the Foreign Bank of Spain, and I had never had the opportunity to play before because of my work. But in the UK, everybody plays golf, and at that time, my partner was a really good player and he was determined to teach me. Playing in Britain could be a bit crazy. Sometimes, we\u2019d find ourselves in the middle of the golf course playing in the pouring rain. I learnt using his clubs; clubs used by a man with a low handicap, and they didn\u2019t suit me either because I\u2019m left-handed. So ne-edless to say, things didn\u2019t get off to a good start. But I\u2019ve always been a keen sportswoman and I firmly believe that you need to have a good crack at sports to get to enjoy them. I was hooked right from the start. I soon realised it was a fantastic sport because it encourages fair play, you learn to build your self-confidence, you respect others and appreciate the course. All of this is very valuable. I also love the technical aspects because I am a perfectionist and when you hit a good shot, you feel great. But then, you think you\u2019re going to hit the next one just as well, and it turns out you don\u2019t. That\u2019s why you get hooked, because it sparks your desire for self-improvement.<\/p>\n
\nI was focused on grass roots golf. In the end, young golfers are those who are going to keep the sport alive in the future, which is why we have to take great care of them. I was particularly responsible for the girls. There are a series of national tournaments in which girls with a good level can compete. The only requirement is for your handicap to make the cut. Most federations chose just five or six players. These were the ones they considered to be the best. The Federation itself went along with them, paying for the trip if they were successful. But I implemented a different system. I didn\u2019t think it was a good idea to choose a handful of girls from the rest. Therefore, I started to organise outings taking many more players, more like 20. I took all the girls who made the handicap cut because you often find that girls can play well one day but not the next. This may mean that you make the wrong selection. Plus, if you make a mistake be-cause a girl has a bad day, it can destroy her because at that age, they\u2019re not prepared to cope with rejection. It also cost their parents a lot of money to take them. Besides all this, when all the girls are together, it makes them feel as if they are part of a great team. They had a fantastic time and it helped to keep them interested in the sport.
\nWhat important players have come out of that group?<\/strong>
\nMarina Escobar and Carmen Belmonte, who are now on a grant in the US. I have taken a lot of players under my wing, because the parents trusted me, and I took a lot of girls. Some are now in BLUME and others in the US, which makes me feel very proud. I didn\u2019t treat them as a mother, rather as members of a professional team. My way of working has been copied by many other federations because I was taking a lot more players than they were, and when their players saw us, logically, they wanted to be part of our team. In fact, the Madrid Federation wrote to me to ask how I worked, and they were quick to implement my idea themselves.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ladiesingolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/margarita3-225x300.jpeg\")
\nWhat about the Solheim at Gleneagles? How did it compare to Germany?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWhat did you think about Catriona Matthew’s performance?
\nCatriona was a great leader. I think, like many people, that leaders don\u2019t have to jump around and make a lot of fuss. She just took care of business, taking de-cisions and surprising people. I\u2019m full of admiration for her.<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t think I’d have a good time be-cause I don\u2019t like the American public. I value fair play, ethics and respect. The American public show no respect which is why I wouldn\u2019t enjoy it.<\/p>\n
\nI think it would put this place even more on the map. We have the weather, infrastructure, hotels, everything needed to hold a magnificent tournament.<\/p>\n